Frozen Time
by StarWarriorGirl14
Summary: A human girl from the future changes into a Pokemon after a slight time-traveling mishap. Now, teaming up with a Mudkip bent on becoming an explorer, she must discover who she was before. Loosely based off of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2, with some new ideas
1. Before the Beginning

_Again, with the disclaimers that start just about every story on this site! Here goes...I don't own Pokemon. The only things I own here are my characters, my ideas, my account, and the computer I'm using to bring such a story here to you. Italics mean that they're thinking and **bold italics **_mean a flashback or a Dimensional Scream (all will unfold later, dear reader...don't you worry)._  
><em>

_ So, without further ado...let us begin!_

The dark gray sky, filled with unchanging clouds just as inviting, loomed overhead as a Pokemon and a human ran across the shattered, frozen landscape below, knowing that stumbling meant certain death and stopping now meant suicide. How long they had been running was anybody's guess...all the two knew was that if they didn't find a second wind soon they were as good as dead. The Pokemon was a Grovyle, and the human was a 13-year-old girl. Both were utterly exhausted, but determined to hide their weary states from the other. The girl looked back over her shoulder to see half a dozen Sableye still in hot pursuit.

"Grovyle, please tell me that we'll be able to lose them up here..." she panted, looking back ahead of her and barely missing a rock intending to trip her.

"As soon as we reach that cave, we'll lose them for sure," Grovyle replied. "They don't know any of the passages we do."

"Good thing, too. I'm tired of these gemfaces getting on my back all the time." The cave in front of them was a dark, gaping hole that looked less welcoming than anybody would have liked, but it was also one of the safest hiding places around. Grovyle dashed in first, followed shortly by his human partner, who deliberately stepped on an odd-looking rock as she did so. This rock, which was actually a switch to the door, caused a large amount of rocks to come cascading down from above, blocking the only entrance the Sableye were aware of. As a sort of bonus, it also made it look like the two had perished in a freak rockfall incident.

"I don't know how you managed to rig that, Anima, but it's a good thing you did." Grovyle said. The girl, Anima, looked up, her cobalt eyes sparkling in rare humor.

"Time may be frozen here, but that apparently didn't stop the Underground from finding out how to move those rocks up there." She brushed a bit of dust out of her short, scruffy hair, which was an almost-blonde brown. The Underground that she was referring to was a resistance of the human kind that had been, sadly, destroyed by Primal Dialga a few years ago. At age eight, Anima had been the youngest to join, and despite her age was soon shooting up through the ranks until she was second in command. Her natural leadership abilities, as well as her intelligence and courage, made her one of the most admired and well-known members of the Underground. Then, when Anima was no older than 10, disaster struck the Underground.

Another well-known member, and also one of Anima's closest friends, Blaine, had been the one to first propose ending Primal Dialga's rule instead of simply trying to damage it. At the time he was five years Anima's senior and, although had a reputation as a bit of a hothead, was respected by many, including Anima. He supported the girl like no one else did back then. Then, as plans changed and developed and once-foggy outcomes were made clear, everything changed.

As far as the Underground was concerned, it had been Anima's idea to go back in time and collect the Time Gears, bringing them to the Temporal Tower located in the past and thus preventing the collapse of Temporal Tower. At first, everyone was ecstatic about the prospect of ending Primal Dialga's reign of dark terror and finally getting to see the sun. Many of them had already started to search for Dimensional Holes, tears in time and space, that would lead to the past. But every plan had its consequences, and this one had one that lead to the main breakup of the Underground. Anima had reluctantly told her comrades this at a Council meeting, which both she and Blaine, along with six or seven other, older people, were a part of. Anima closed her eyes and remembered her announcement and, more importantly, the others' reactions to it.

**_"...and we'll be good to go as soon as we get that straightened out! Now...oh, Anima. Do you have something you need to say?" Blaine asked, noticing Anima fidget in her seat. As a ten-year-old in __a room full of people at least five years ahead of her, she wasn't completely confident that their reactions would be pretty. But they had a right to know what they were getting into, and if they weren't going to agree with the terms and conditions then they should make way for someone who would._**

**_ "About this...you don't know what the consequences will be." she began quietly._**

**_ "'Course we do," a redheaded man in his early twenties, Zachary, said. "If we fail, we're executed by Dusknoir and his Sableye Squad. If we succeed, well...we still might be executed, but there'll be more satisfaction on our part." Anima shook her head, wishing that that was the case but knowing that it wasn't._**

**_ "You...don't understand. If we succeed, if we change history, then...something else will happen. Something that a lot of you are going to find truly horrible." Anima could feel the tension in the air rise to an almost unbearable level. Blaine and everybody else were looking at her with mixed expressions that she could not make out, but knew that they mostly revolved around fear. But she had to continue, because if she didn't tell them, who else would?_**

**_ "If we win this fight, there will be a price we have to pay. A price that many of you might think is too high...in order to stop the collapse of Temporal Tower, we all have to accept one little detail." Anima was aware that she was stalling, but with something this big she felt that it really couldn't be helped. The truth slipped out faster than Anima could think of a possible way to sugarcoat it. "If we alter history, then we'll fade out of history! Fade to nothingness...as if we never existed..." The reaction was worse than Anima could picture it. But Blaine's reaction was the worst. He first turned pale and he shrank away from her as if she had just slapped him. But then, fury began brewing in his hazel eyes._**

**_ "You weren't gonna tell us, were you?" he hissed._**

**_ "Of course I was! There just wasn't time to, not then!" Anima said, stepping back towards the door._**

**_ "You're unbelievable!" Blaine yelled at her. Under any other circumstances, she'd see this as a compliment. "You knew the whole time, but you didn't say a word about it until now, didn't you?"_**

"Anima? Are you all right?" Grovyle asked, breaking through the memories dancing through her mind.

"Just...thinking, that's all. Nothing new there," Anima said. Grovyle nodded, respecting his partner's privacy just as much as she valued his.

"We might want to head deeper in. Dusknoir's probably going to come check to see that we really are dead, and you know what that means..." Anima stood up, brushing off her pant legs. They were worn cargo pants that had been blue at some point, but had faded to an almost-gray color streaked with dirt and covered in rips and tears, especially around the knees and the bottom of the legs, where the fabric scraped the ground. Being a constant fugitive in the future wasn't exactly the most glamorous position in the world, but Anima truly didn't care that she couldn't remember the last time she'd had clothes that were in reasonably fair condition. What _did_ trouble her was the fact that her clothing had faded to different shades of gray...just as the world had done following the occurrence of the Planet's Paralysis.

"Good idea," she said. "Let's go." The two wandered deeper and deeper into the cave, which was lined with different crystals that would have normally been colorful and shining had it not been for the tragedy that was the stopping of time.

"Look at this!" Anima said suddenly, her voice filled with rage that had not been there before. Grovyle was a bit startled by the sudden outburst, but said nothing, only listening to Anima as she continued. "I'll bet this was one of the most beautiful places here...and now...it's gone forever."

"Not forever," Grovyle amended. "We'll fix it. Even though the stakes are high, we'll return things to the way they once were." Anima looked up at her best friend, smiling through the tears glittering in her eyes.

"You're right...sometimes it's just a little hard to handle, that's all. We're doing so much to prevent this from happening and in return we disappear. Not one Pokemon will remember our names."

"But-" Grovyle started. Anima good-naturedly cut him off by raising a hand.

"I know. It's better to think about the needs of the many than the needs of the few. I'll be fine; if you think I'm walking out on this, you've got another thing coming." Grovyle smiled.

"That's exactly what I was waiting to hear." They continued on until they reached a room with three towering crystals forming a triangle in the middle of the room.

"Do you think..." Anima began, not knowing what to think but only knowing that whatever this was, it was the key to something important.

"It might actually be what we're looking for." Grovyle said. "You remember that legend the elder told us a few weeks ago, right?"

"Not word for word..." Anima admitted. "But enough to know that you have to match something..."

"You don't remember it, do you?"

"No. I'm sorry..." Anima sighed, tracing invisible patterns onto the crystal closest to her. "I really thought we were on to something, too." Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she let out a gasp of surprise.

"What is it? Are you seeing something?" Grovyle asked, the hopefulness in his voice impossible to ignore. The vision was relatively short, and all Anima saw was a deep lake on the other side of a hidden tunnel under the crystals, and, more importantly, the glow deep below that could only be a Time Gear. Anima snapped back to reality and faced her partner, grinning all the while.

"Found one," she said triumphantly. "I'll find out how to get to it, but now we know it's there." Grovyle smiled back, the same feeling of triumph surging through him. Of course, it was a minor victory, one that wouldn't matter very much until they figured out how to reach the Time Gear itself, but it was a start. Anima took a worn map out of her pocket. It was old, yellowed, and had been folded and unfolded many times, sometimes with diligent care but most often carelessly folded in halves due to time constraints. Anima spread the map out on the ground and looked over it. It was an extremely rare map of the past, one of the only ones left and the only one that was in as good a condition as this. On it, over many different landmarks, were small red X's over some locations and four thick, black circles around various points on the map. Anima took out a black marker—another rare oddity that could still be found on the black market, if you knew where to look—and circled a point marked "Crystal Cave", making the fifth and final circle.

"One step closer," Anima said, putting the marker away and folding the map again. Grovyle looked around the cavern as she did so, not wanting to be taken by surprise in case there was a mild case of hostility down here...

He wasn't disappointed.

"Well, well, well, that was a clever trick you pulled back there. But did you _really_ think it would work against..._me_?" A voice said from the door the two had entered from. A voice that was all too familiar. A voice that they would have preferred to never hear again, but knew that they would probably have to, anyways.

The Pokemon that the voice belonged to was none other than Dusknoir himself; agent of Primal Dialga, sworn enemy to Grovyle, Anima, and any hidden allies they might possess, and determined to take them out once and for all.

"Actually...no." Anima replied, her eyes sweeping over the cavern and looking for a way out. Grovyle caught her eye and nodded once, a movement so small that Dusknoir had no chance of catching it. Anima nodded back; she knew what the plan was.

"Well, I'm glad you thought so, because I would hate to see a little girl be so disappointed." Dusknoir's tone of voice suggested that he really wouldn't mind at all if Anima was to be severely disappointed, and—of course—he didn't. Anima shrugged, deliberately making the movement as careless as possible.

"Hey, I can dream, can't I?" she asked innocently.

"I suppose so...not that dreaming will do you any good." _Oh, he's right there._ Anima thought to herself. _What _will_ do me any good is acting on those dreams and making them reality...and we're closer to that than he knows._

"Now, Anima, just come with me like the good little girl I know you can be, and I'll make sure your death is as merciful as possible."

"You and I both know that that isn't possible." Grovyle snapped. "You'd lose your good relationships with Primal Dialga, and we all know that you can't have that happen." He flashed a quick look at Anima that, to her, asked a simple question. _Are you ready?_ Anima nodded and, once again, the move was practically invisible.

"Give my regards to your master!" Grovyle said, whipping a Luminous Orb out of nowhere and slamming it into the ground. A bright flash of light followed, and Dusknoir couldn't help but cover his eyes at the rare sight of genuine, concentrated brilliancy somehow contained in an orb no larger than a Cheri berry. When the last of the effulgence had faded away, Dusknoir saw (to his frustration) that neither Anima nor Grovyle were anywhere to be seen. Swearing quietly under his breath, he rushed outside in case the two had slipped past him while he had been disabled. Besides, there was no other way out, was there?

* * *

><p>As soon as he had left, Grovyle and Anima emerged from the ground, where Grovyle had used a well-placed Dig attack that Dusknoir had failed to notice.<p>

"Well, that worked," Grovyle said. Anima looked around at the ceiling, looking for another escape route and finding none.

"Yeah, but I get the feeling that all it did was buy a little more time. Unless we can tunnel out..."

"Looks like we don't have a choice. Let's go," Grovyle replied, jumping back into the hole with Anima right behind him.

"By the time he gets back, we'll be long gone...oh, I think I remembered that riddle." Grovyle, who was about to execute another Dig attack, froze and whirled to face her.

"You did?"

"Yeah, and this is how it goes..."


	2. Separation!

_Just some inside information here...I'm gonna be switching back and forth from the past to the future in this chapter at least three times. I KNOW the timeline might not be exactly like the game, but I did warn you that it was LOOSELY based on PMD2 (I just figured out what that means...not sure that's a good thing... *sweatdrops*) _

Far away, across times and space, through one of the hidden passages that connect the future to the past, a Mudkip paces uneasily back and forth on the beach, torn between two halves of himself: what he was and what he wanted to be. He knew he was timid; he'd always known it, and, unfortunately, that fact had been shown numerous times. But despite that, deep in his heart the desire to become an explorer, discovering new lands, finding treasure, and rising through the ranks to one of the best of all time; stood strong. He knew he could do it...at least, he thought he could.

"Okay, Kippy. You can do this. Today is the day," he said quietly to himself, looking up the hill where Treasure Town stood, the first lights lit during the nighttime beginning to make their presences known. Beyond that was Wigglytuff's Guild, a world-class training facility for aspiring explorers eager to leave their mark on the world. Kippy had lost track of how many times he had tried to sign up; his nerves always got the best of him before he could even walk through the front door.

He was a coward. But today, he had high hopes that this time, he could find some courage tucked away in his young body. Today would be different. Why? Because he'd brought along a special treasure that, he hoped, would inspire him, encouraging him to achieve his goals.

A small piece of gray stone now sat in front of him, sitting in the dwindling rays of sunlight. The complex, white pattern engraved upon it shone brightly, reflecting the light and making the stone seem even more mysterious. This was Kippy's Relic Fragment, and it was his most prized possession.

Putting away the Relic Fragment in the small canvas bag he used to carry around his few belongings, he couldn't help but smile at the memories it brought back. His father had gotten it for him when he was newly hatched, and he could still remember when he used to run around the small forest close to their home and pretend that he was a great explorer, with the bag serving as his trusty Treasure Bag. While it was really just an ordinary knapsack, he had liked to pretend it was something more than that. He still sometimes did, to get him motivated.

Taking a deep breath, he steeled his will and began trekking up the hill. He passed by Treasure Town without really thinking about it; it wasn't until he was right in front of a large hole with a grate in front of it that his anxiety began to creep up on him.

"No! I have to steel my will today! I'm really going to do it this time!" Kippy said, filling himself with weak determination and stepping on the grate. Immediately, a loud voice called down from below. Two voices.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" Kippy cried out in surprise and quickly stepped back off the grate.

"That was shocking!" he exclaimed, before signing in disappointment. "I thought today was the day...but I can't do it. I'm such a coward." Taking out his Relic Fragment once again, he looked it over mournfully. "I thought bringing along my special treasure would inspire me..." Sighing, he made his way down to the beach again. There had been a violent storm earlier, but things should have quieted down by now. Kippy trudged down the path, wishing that today _had _been that different day.

Little did he know how different it was going to be.

Earlier that same day, back across time and space, Anima and Grovyle stood in a moderately sized clearing in one of the dismal, gray forests that filled the region. Final preparations were being made, and every now and then one of the two would fiddle with the Kangaskhan Statue nearby, taking out items they thought they would need and putting away those they didn't. It was a nervous habit more than anything else; one that put their shaky nerves at ease. While neither would easily admit it, they were a bit scared about what might happen across time. Dusknoir and his "Sableye Squad" (Anima had coined the term after her second encounter with them) would certainly not let them escape so easily. No, they would be followed, and to Anima and Grovyle it was only a matter of time until they put two and two together and realize that they were further along in their Time Gear search than they originally thought.

"Anima, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" Celebi chirped from the corner of the clearing. Anima looked up from the bag she was trying to organize.

"Sure, Celebi," she replied to the pink Pokemon. Handing the bag to Grovyle, she said, "Here. See if there's anything else we could possibly need. There's a good chance I forgot something again."

"I'm sure you did fine, but I'll check if you want me to," Grovyle said, not knowing what Celebi wanted but having a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't quite make out. Part of him knew what she wanted with his human friend, but it refused to divulge the information with the rest of him. Anima walked over to Celebi calmly, also having a feeling about what this was about but, unlike her partner, knowing what it was. She found it slightly humoring, but she had to wonder if she really had the time for this.

"I think I know what you're going to say," she said, a faint flicker of a smile dancing across her face.

"I'm going to say it anyways," Celebi replied. "You do realize that a Pokemon and a human can't possibly be together, right?" Anima had to cover her mouth with her hand for a minute, turning away so Celebi couldn't catch the amusement written all over her face. Holding back laughter, she said,

"Celebi, you know as well as I do that he's my best friend. As for anything more than that...I honestly can't say."

"Well, I just hope you know that out of the two of us right now, I'd be the better choice," Anima rolled her eyes.

"Sure, Celebi. I know that," she said, her voice thick with sarcasm. Celebi obviously caught onto that, because her next reply was indignant.

"I'm just making sure you know that so you don't wind up disappointed later on!" Anima had no idea what she was talking about, and unfortunately it showed on her face. Celebi's tone softened a bit.

"I'm only talking about the...species difference here," She said, somewhat awkwardly. "If you somehow managed to change into a Pokemon...well, you get it." Anima laughed; a hard, cold laugh that normally came on when she was trying to hide various emotions that she preferred to keep to herself.

"I'll keep that in mind, Celebi," she said. "I'll keep that in mind," More often than not, she wished she _was_ a Pokemon. At least then she'd be able to partake in battles more often. She felt bad that Grovyle had to deal with most of it, while she was normally on the sidelines, using Wonder Orbs and Blast Seeds and stuff like that. Occasionally she'd get her hands on some Gravelrocks or Iron Thorns and she could be even more useful, often taking down enemies before they got within striking range. But unless that happened...she mainly had no choice but to stay out of the way.

As Anima headed back towards Grovyle, it dawned on her that Celebi might actually be _jealous_ of her. _A legendary Pokemon...jealous of a _human_? No way!_

"What was that about?" Grovyle asked. Anima just shrugged.

"Celebi just wanted to sort something out..."

"Does it involve me?"

"Yes, and before you go any further, we don't have time for Twenty Questions,"

"All right, all right." Grovyle said, leading the way into the woods. Anima followed, with Celebi bringing up the rear.

It took a ridiculously long time to reach where the Passage of Time was hidden, but that seemed to be because this time, the mystery dungeons decided to throw them a monster house every other floor.

"I'm getting really sick of this," Grovyle said as the party was ambushed for the fifth time.

"At this rate we'll never make it..." Celebi moaned, quickly ducking out of the way as Anima hurled an Iron Thorn at the nearest Pokemon.

"Nice shot," Grovyle commented, taking it down with Leaf Blade.

"Um, is it just me, or are even more coming?" Celebi asked nervously, looking behind her to see that the passage they had arrived by was blocked. Anima looked around at the increasing numbers and dug around in her bag for a moment.

"Oh, forget this," She muttered darkly, throwing a Wonder Orb against the ground. The effect was instantaneous; every single Pokemon in the room had been petrified, unable to move. The three hurried out of the room before any other mobile Pokemon could find them.

After what seemed like a lot more effort than what should have been necessary, they finally made it to where the Passage of Time was located. Celebi made a few tweaks to it here and there, and soon enough it was ready.

"You two be careful, all right?" She asked. Anima and Grovyle both nodded once, a strangely solemn movement made even more so by the fact that they had done it at the exact same time. Celebi couldn't help but notice how Anima's hands were shaking at her sides...she was scared, if only a little. Grovyle's facial expression was impossible for Celebi to read, but she saw the concern towards Anima in his eyes. _This _was why she envied Anima; even though Celebi was a legendary Pokemon with amazing powers (and was shiny, on top of everything else), Anima had one thing that Celebi could never attain.

Grovyle's affections. Sure, he saw Celebi as a friend, but anything more than that was wishing for something that would never happen. Celebi sighed internally, but she knew that she shouldn't really mind. Anima and Grovyle had to be the best combination she'd ever seen...it was a simple "I've-got-your-back-and-you've-got-mine" relationship at first glance, but deep down it was something deeper. It was based on selfless determination and mutual trust going back for a long time, so long that Celebi wouldn't be surprised if they started reading the others' thoughts. In a way, they already could, through facial expressions and tones of voice.

"A-are you ready?" Anima asked, frustrated by the slight falter in her voice. Grovyle placed a reassuring hand over her own.

"We'll be fine," he promised, although he couldn't help but feel that these words were false comfort somehow. "I promise..." Anima closed her eyes in thought, trying to fight fear. When she opened them again, they were filled with steely determination.

"All right," she said slowly, all traces of fear gone. "Let's go," The two leaped into the Passage of Time, leaving Celebi on her own to fend for herself should trouble come along while her friends were away.

* * *

><p>As soon as they entered the timestream, Anima knew that something was off. Neither she nor Grovyle had ever been time-traveling before, but an innate feeling told her something was not how it was supposed to be. To start off, it was dark, so dark that Anima could barely see a foot in front of her in any given direction. It was also terribly windy, and it was almost as if it was <em>trying<em> to pound her to death. Anima couldn't see Grovyle, but she knew that he was there with her, and he was close. The thought comforted her. At least she wasn't completely alone in the raging darkness, furious that something had decided to trespass upon its territory. A series of two flashes of light flashed in quick succession, vanishing as soon as they had appeared. It was then that Anima noticed something far away. The first was a shadowy figure that she couldn't make out and didn't bother trying to. It could have been Primal Dialga for all she knew, coming to finish them off himself. But Anima doubted this theory, and decided not to delve into it anymore, probably because of what she saw in that split second of light. A large projectile was careening from the shadowy figure right at them, and it only took a moment for Anima to process its intended impact point. Grovyle, her partner.

Anima's reaction was a mixture of pure reflex-which had been sped up to speeds that a normal human could never even think of attaining-and selfless instinct. Everything seemed to slow down to a crawl as Anima, giving no regard to her personal well-being, threw herself between the projectile and its target. The impact was stronger than she had imagined it would be, and the force of it was so great that it sent her flying back into Grovyle, who barely had enough time to grab her hand before she could drift any farther away.

"W-whoa!" Anima gasped, from surprise and pain. Agony coursed through her veins at lightning speed almost immediately after the initial shock of the blow had worn off.

"Are you-are you okay?" Grovyle asked, worried beyond any imagination. It vaguely occurred to him that he had let his guard drop upon entering the timestream, and that his partner may very well be paying for it with her life. Another series of flashes barely lit up the blackness surrounding them before vanishing again, but that was all the time Grovyle needed to see how bad of a shape Anima was in. Her blood was blossoming across her shirt like a lethal, crimson flower, and the sight of it made his heart ache. If he couldn't treat her soon enough, there was an excellent chance that she wouldn't make it, despite the supplies they had packed. And to treat her...he had to hold on long enough. If he lost her now, there was a more-than-good chance that he wouldn't be able to bring her back. But to his horror, he found that Anima's grip on his hand was slipping.

"No! Don't let go! Just a little longer...come on! Hang on!" He begged. It was extremely uncharacteristic for him to do so, but with his partner losing consciousness and a horrible wound sapping her life away, it seemed appropriate. He tightened his grip on Anima's hand, trying to compensate for the lack of strength on her part.

"I...I can't hold on..." Anima whispered, trying to keep her grip on Grovyle's hand. Despite their best efforts, a stray wind knocked them loose, and Anima was sent hurtling away from her best friend. The scream that followed was from both of them, one of desperation, one of pain, and both of fear that this was the last time they'd ever see their partner again.

"Waaaaaah!"

* * *

><p><em>...Wow. Even I'll admit that's a little bit of a cliffhanger...if you don't know how the story goes, that is. I don't live off of reviews, but they help motivate me and help me improve, so if you could spare a little time that would be deeeeeply appreciated!<em>

_Until next time, see you later!  
><em>


	3. The Beginning of Team Enigma

_Ugh...You think you write a ton until the word-counter says you've only written 1,000 words...It's mildly disheartening...It looks like you've written a lot more than you really have when you're looking on a word document. I've managed to count in at around 3,390 words at the end, though. New record for a chapter! I think...  
>Also, for those who have asked how loosely based this is, altered dialogue and different missions are two ones that you'll probably find the most. As the story progresses, you may find some events that certainly didn't happen in the games. Besides that, though...that was mainly just something I said to keep perfectionist flamers off my back for a little while ;)<br>_

* * *

><p>Kippy trudged down towards the beach, weighed down by intense disappointment that hurt no matter how used to it he was. He had been so sure today was the day when he started training to become an explorer. So sure he'd soon be acknowledged as a world-famous explorer that he could have tasted it. So sure that his world would be forever changed. <em>Well, it didn't,<em> he thought glumly, watching as the Krabby blew their bubbles into the sunset. Hundreds of bubbles filled the sky, bobbing gently in the wind and reflecting the sun into rainbow patterns glimmering on their surfaces. The steady crashes of the waves against the shore was all that could be heard.

"The sunset's beautiful tonight," Kippy said. "I always come here when I'm feeling sorry for myself...it's the only thing that helps right now." As he turned to head home, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned to look over by the entrance to Beach Cave, surprised by what he saw.

"Someone's collapsed on the sand!" He exclaimed to nobody in particular. Sure enough, a Meowth was lying in the sand, not stirring a bit by his sudden outburst. Rushing over to where the Meowth was lying, Kippy cried, "Are you all right? Get up! Get up!" The Meowth stirred for a moment, but drowsily so. She got up and looked around, a puzzled look on her face. Her cobalt eyes were filled with confusion, as if she had no idea how she had gotten there.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Kippy sighed in relief. "You were passed out on the beach. I was seriously worried!" The Meowth looked at him blankly before finally speaking.

"Where...where am I?" Kippy was a little taken aback by this, but thought nothing of it. After all, a little confusion was only natural in situations such as these.

"You're on a beach by Treasure Town," he said.

"...Treasure Town...?"

"Yes," Kippy said, all the while thinking _Oh Arceus, she must've hit her head or something...everybody knows what Treasure Town is._

"Look...can you just tell me where the humans are?" The Meowth sounded slightly exasperated. Kippy leaped back in surprise.

"Humans? There aren't any humans here!" He said.

"Yeah, there are! There has to be...I...I'm a human," She said, sounding confused. Kippy was just as perplexed as she was.

"But you look just like an ordinary Meowth to me!" The Meowth suddenly whirled around to look at the water. Judging from the look on her face, what she saw was not what she had been expecting.

"It's true! I've...I've turned into a Meowth!" She cried. Then, softly to herself, so softly that Kippy could barely hear, she added, "But how did this happen? I don't remember anything..."

"You're a little...um...odd," Kippy said. "Are you trying to pull something?"

"What? No, no, nothing like that!"

"Okay...do you know your name, at least?"

"My name? That's right my name is..." There was an agonizingly long pause. "...Anima. My name is Anima."

"Anima? Okay...you don't seem to be bad, at least. A lot of bad Pokemon have been turning up lately. Things have become somewhat lawless..." Anima's eyes widened in warning, but Kippy didn't see why until he was knocked onto the ground from behind.

"Whoops! Sorry!" A Koffing apologized in a way that was too innocent for him to not have meant to do it.

"What was that for?" Kippy asked, angry.

"Haven't you figured it out? We wanted to mess with you!" Koffing exclaimed. "Oh, by the way, is that yours?" Kippy looked to his right, where his Relic Fragment was lying in the sand.

"No! Th-that's...!"

"Sorry, kiddo. We'll be taking that!" Koffing's friend, Zubat, chuckled maliciously, picking up the Relic Fragment.

"What? You're not gonna make any moves to get it back? I didn't expect that you were such a big chicken!" Koffing laughed, making his way to Beach Cave.

"See ya around, chicken," Zubat laughed, following Koffing. Kippy watched in stunned silence as the two thieves vanished into Beach Cave. Anima seemed just as shocked as he was, but in an angry way rather than his fearful way.

"What'll I do? That's my special treasure! It...it means everything to me!" Anima whirled around to face him, her blue eyes borderlining furious.

"Well, they can't just get away with this! Let's go!" She said, all traces of confusion gone.

"W-what?" Kippy stammered.

"We're gonna go get that back," Anima replied. "Whenever you're ready..."

"Oh! Thank you so much!" Kippy said, leading the way into the cave, a dungeon filled with glittering water the color of the sky. Once entering, he was surprised at how easily Anima managed to defeat the Pokemon that got in their way. While she may be confused and lost as far as her circumstances went, she was really a natural at battling. Kippy found that he barely had to unleash a move of his own; Anima's Scratch attack dealt with their enemies in one blow. Every now and then, however, he would have to defend himself.

Anima was the first to reach the bottom, with Kippy right on her heels. However, instead of rushing right in, she hung back a little bit, sizing up the two thieves as she herself hid in the shadows.

"I don't see them coming," Zubat said, his back to Anima and Kippy's hiding place.

"Of course not. That Kippy's a huge coward...and the Meowth is probably gone by now." Koffing laughed. Anima and Kippy stepped forwards, but Kippy noticed she made no effort to attract their attention.

"H-hey!" He shouted. Koffing and Zubat turned around, surprised.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Look who decided to show up! The big chicken!" Koffing exclaimed.

"Urk!" Kippy uttered quietly. His voice trembling, he continued, "Give me back what you stole from me! That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!"

"Heh-heh-heh! Did you hear that? Sounds like we could make a ton of cash off this thing!" Zubat chuckled.

"All the more reason not to give it back!" Koffing agreed.

"What?" Kippy cried, looking over at Anima with a sense of helplessness in his eyes.

"You heard him," She said, unsheathing her claws. "Give him back what you stole and nobody gets hurt,"

"No way!" Koffing said, but fear was written all over his face. He had no idea who _this_ new Pokemon was, but he got the feeling she meant business. "If you want it back that badly, then come and get it!" Anima smirked and looked over at Kippy, who seemed to forget his fear in his desperation to get back his treasure. He nodded once in reply and waited for Anima to make the first move. Instead of moving forwards and taking the first hit, she threw a Geo Pebble at Koffing and waited for the two to take the bait. Kippy also waited for Koffing and Zubat to come within range, which they did almost unwittingly. Anima then lunged forwards, inflicting a powerful Scratch attack on Zubat. He was knocked out immediately. Kippy focused on Koffing, tackling him head-on. While seriously low on health, Koffing could only managed to attack Kippy with Tackle before he was also knocked out by Anima. Kippy couldn't believe what had just happened. In just a little more than two turns, the battle had ended and they had emerged victorious.

"Fine! Take it!" Koffing said, tossing the Relic Fragment towards his feet. "Just remember, your victory was a fluke!" With that, he and Zubat wasted no time in hightailing it out of the cave.

"And they have the audacity to call _us_ cowards..." Anima muttered, watching as Kippy picked up his treasure and brush off the sand that had settled on it upon impact onto the ground.

"We ready?" She asked.

"Yeah," Kippy said, relieved. "Let's go back,"

* * *

><p>Back on the beach, Kippy showed Anima just what was so special about his treasure.<p>

"I call it my Relic Fragment. I know it looks like junk, but if you look, there's some kind of design on it," Anima looked over at the Relic Fragment and saw that he was right.

"I've never seen anything like this before..." She said in wonder. "At least, nothing that I'd remember," She muttered the last bit sourly.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask," Kippy shuffled uncomfortably, putting the Relic Fragment back in its normal place in his pack. "What are you going to do now? You've lost your memory, and you've somehow managed to turn into a Pokemon...do you have any idea of what you're going to do?" Anima furrowed her brow.

"No. I have to admit that I have no idea what I'm gonna do,"

"Well, then, can I make a request?" Anima nodded, and Kippy continued. "There's a guild close by. Wigglytuff's Guild. It's for exploration members, and I've always wanted to join. But I...chickened out. But you!" Kippy exclaimed, causing Anima to jump slightly. "You knocked out so many Pokemon with one attack! Even with the Technician ability, that's really something! You're a natural battler, and that's a good thing to have when exploring. So I was just wondering...would you like to form an exploration team with me? I'm convinced that I can form an effective team with you, Anima." Anima's eyes widened as she turned towards the ocean, away from Kippy. _What in the name of...? I'm being recruited right out of the blue! Sure, what Kippy said about my skills is true...and I don't have anywhere else to go. Who knows? I might learn a little bit about myself while hanging out with him._

"Sure," She said, turning back towards Kippy. "It sounds exciting," Indeed, the way Kippy had explained it had made her pulse pound. As if every fiber in her being craved adventure and danger.

"Really? That's great! Let's go sign up!" Kippy said, half-dragging Anima up the path towards Wigglytuff's Guild. Kippy led the way up the large flight of stairs with newly found excitement.

"I'll go first," he said, motioning to the grate in front of the barred door. He shuddered a bit before stepping on, but calmed himself. _There's no turning back. I've got Anima with me this time,_ he thought. Stepping on the grate, the familiar series of cries echoed from below.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is Mudkip's! The footprint is Mudkip's!" There was a slight pause before the second voice shouted from below.

"HEY, you! There's somebody WITH you, and we need them to STAND on the grate RIGHT NOW!"

"I...I think they're talking about you, Anima," Kippy stammered, stepping back off the grate.

"Is there anybody else here?" Anima asked sarcastically, looking over the grate. _It's been put over the hole so Pokemon don't fall it, but I really have to question the stability of it...who knows whether or not it'll collapse the minute I step on it?_

"HEY! What's the HOLDUP? Stand on the GRATE!" The now-impatient voice boomed from below. Anima stepped on the grate, startled into action.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" Anima rolled her eyes. Did they really have to repeat this stuff every single time...?

"The footprint is...ummm...the footprint...is..."

"Huh? What's wrong, sentry Diglett?"

"The footprint is...ummm...Maybe Meowth's! Maybe Meowth's!"

"MAYBE? Identifying visitors to the guild...that's your job, ISN'T it, Diglettt?"

"Well, sure, but I can't identify what I don't know..." Anima and Kippy exchanged puzzled glances.

"Are they arguing down there?" Kippy asked. Before Anima had the chance to respond, they were addressed from below.

"Sorry for making you WAIT," It said. "While it's TRUE you don't see many Meowth around here...you don't SEEM to be bad...eh, good enough! Let 'em in!" A tremor shook the ground as the gate barring the guild entrance was lifted.

"Oh, wow!" Kippy exclaimed. Turning to Anima, he added, "I'm so nervous...but so excited! Let's go!" Anima stepped down the ladder leading below ground, and together they took their first steps into Wigglytuff's Guild.

* * *

><p>Anima and Kippy took in the scene before them. Many different Pokemon were going about their businesses, looking at different bulletin boards, arguing about what treasures they should go look for, and accepting thanks from clients.<p>

"Wow! Do you think they're all exploration teams?" Kippy asked Anima. Before she could reply, a Chatot came from a set of stairs leading even deeper underground.

"Ah, you two!" He chirped. "You're the two Pokemon they just let in, right?"

"Right!" Kippy said.

"Well, then...shoo! Leave the premises! We have no time for silly solicitors or surveys of any kind!"

"No, that's not why we're here!" Anima cut in.

"Oh?"

"You see, we wanted to train to become an exploration team!" Kippy hastily explained.

"An exploration team?" Chatot exclaimed. Turning away, he murmured, so quietly that only Anima's sensitive ears could pick it up, "It's not every day you see a kid this young wanting to sign up, not with the guild's training program being what it is. The steady stream of Pokemon running away should prove just how harsh it is!"

"Is it really that hard?" Anima asked quietly. Chatot whirled around, frantically flapping his wings.

"Sq-squawk! No! It's not true! Not in the slightest!" Regaining his composure, he happily waggled his tail back and forth. "Well, if you wanted to sign up as an exploration team, why didn't you just say so in the first place?"

"He changed moods pretty fast there, didn't he...?" Kippy asked quietly. Anima nodded.

"Right this way, please!" Chatot chirped, again with a musical hint to his voice. The three Pokemon headed down the ladder, only to have Kippy rush over to the window.

"Wow! You can see right outside!" He exclaimed.

"Hush!" Chatot said, suddenly angry. "The guild is built on the side of a cliff. It's only natural that you'd be able to see outside."

"Oh," Chatot stopped in front of a closed set of pale red doors. Painted on it with cream-colored paint was a strange kind of design.

"This is the Guildmaster's quarters. Under no-I repeat, NO-circumstances should you ever be discourteous to the Guildmaster," He said quietly to Anima and Kippy before turning back to the doors. "Guildmaster, this is Chatot! I'm coming in!" With that, he pushed the doors open and ushered Anima and Kippy inside.

"Guildmaster, these two Pokemon want to register as an exploration team," he said to what appeared to be a pink statue in the middle of the room. There was a long silence before it whirled around, revealing that it was, in fact, Wigglytuff himself.

"All right! Let's get you registered!" He cried happily. Kippy's puzzled mood was written all over his face; he had heard grand tales of Wigglytuff's accomplishments from his father. He had to admit that Wigglytuff was _nothing_ like he thought he would be. But he figured that looks could be deceiving.

"First, what's your team name?" Chagrined, Kippy turned to Anima.

"Team name? We never thought about that...Any ideas, Anima?" Anima closed her eyes, thinking. She had very little experiences to work with, which was both a nuisance and somewhat convenient. Her mind wandered to Kippy's mysterious Relic Fragment, then to her own reasons for joining their team: Her memory loss and transformation. She felt that somewhere in there, there was a team name just waiting to emerge. Mystery? Team Mystery? No...something more catchy. Something intriguing and original. What summed up the Relic Fragment and her odd circumstances? They were...and then it dawned on her. The perfect word.

"Enigma," She said at last, opening her eyes again.

"Enigma...Team Enigma...?" Kippy tested the name and found it to his liking. "Yeah, I like it! It suits us!"

"All right! I'll put you down as Team Enigma!" Wigglytuff said. "Registering...registering...done! Congratulations! You are now officially an exploration team! Here," he put a small chest in front of them.

"What is this?" Kippy asked.

"Everything a newly-formed exploration team needs! Open it up!" Wigglytuff said, still good-natured. Anima opened up the chest to reveal an Explorer Badge, a Treasure Bag, and a Wonder Map.

"Whoa...what _is_ all this stuff?" Anima asked.

"The first thing is an Explorer Badge," Wigglytuff said. "That's how you're recognized as an exploration team, even if you're only in training. The next is a Treasure Bag. You can store many items in it, and as your ranking goes up, you'll have more and more room for items. It's an extremely useful bag. And last but not least, there's the Wonder Map. It shows our entire region that we know of, and it even changes as you explore new places." Anima looked over the map and assumed the "new places" Wigglytuff was referring to were the areas covered with clouds.

"Hey! There are items in here!" Kippy said, looking inside the Treasure Bag. Taking out the two items inside, Anima looked them over. The first was a teal scarf that Kippy called a "Zinc Band". The second item, however, caught Anima's attention. It was a bow radiating some kind of mysterious energy, but what shocked her the most was the fact that it was the exact shade her eyes were.

"That's a Zinc Band and a Cobalt Bow," Wigglytuff supplied. "They're two very useful items, and I'm sure they'll help you on your adventures!"

"A Cobalt Bow radiates aura energy," Chatot explained, noticing Anima's expression as she appraised the item. "It seems that your aura is the same color as the bow, and, in your case, the color of your eyes."

"I like it," Anima said quietly, putting on the bow. Looking over at Kippy, who was fastening the Zinc Band around his neck, she smiled. Although surprised at first (after all, it was the first time he'd seen her genuinely smile), he returned it with one of his own.

"Let's always do our best, Anima!" He said. The two held up their badges, exclaiming as they did so.

"Team Enigma!"


	4. The First Mission

_Figured that I might wanna repeat the disclaimer, because some nit-picky readers are really...well, nit-picky about that stuff (you know who you are).  
>I DO NOT OWN POKEMON. All I own are any individual names, characters, and (rarely, simply because so many other people are on this site), ideas.<br>_

* * *

><p>Anima rolled over in her bed, not knowing where she was but not caring. Dreams danced through her mind, bringing fuzzy images that felt too important to be a figment of her imagination. Wherever she was, it was dark, and cold, and she was terrified.<p>

Something was chasing her..._seven_ somethings. The first six were just fuzzy, purple blobs that were all the same size, but the seventh was the one she _knew_ she was supposed to be afraid of. It was much bigger than the others, dark gray in color and shouting at her to stop running, to surrender or die a painful death. She crashes through a forest, finally managing to lose them, but not before they can strike out at her. She keeps running for an agonizingly long time, finally stopping at a body of water that seems to be frozen. She looks at her reflection, and long cuts are running across her face, crimson against her pale skin. She fingers them carefully, knowing that they'll heal without any scarring in a matter of days.

At this point, a voice much clearer than the others shouts out "GET UP!". The dream started to dissolve in an instant, but not before Anima could take in the general look of the reflection in her dream. Then, the loud voice shouted out again.

"HEY! It's time to WAKE UP! The name's LOUDRED, a fellow apprentice! If you're late for morning BREIFING, you'll be SORRY!" Anima's eyes shot open. She looked over at Kippy to see that he had practically jumped out of his skin. His eyes were wide and had a glazed look to them that was probably due to fatigue and the sudden, if rude, wake-up call.

"ANYWAYS..." Loudred continued. "I'm not about to get in TROUBLE because two ROOKIES got up LATE! So UP AND AT 'EM!" Then he walked off down the hall, probably to avoid being late for morning briefing.

"Oh, for the love of Arceus...what a ridiculously loud voice..." Anima muttered, not knowing where that phrase had come from but saying it anyways.

"What did he say...? Something about briefing?" Kippy murmured sleepily. The two shot up.

"Oh! That's right! We registered at the guild! But that means..."

"We totally overslept! Come on, hurry!" Anima finished, dragging her friend out the door. They stopped at the doorway, where all the other apprentices were already standing.

"You're LATE, rookies!" Loudred said, a bit unnecessarily.

"Hush!" Chatot said. "Your voice is ridiculously loud!" With that, Guildmaster Wigglytuff stepped out of his quarters. The motto Kippy and Anima had to learn passed by in a blur for Anima, who was still caught up in her dream from that night and, more specifically, her reflection. Even the fact that Wigglytuff had apparently fallen asleep didn't do so much as barely snap her back to reality. After that, she and Kippy were taken to the bulletin boards by Chatot. Anima almost fell off the ladder as she climbed up because a flash of realization suddenly hit her. She knew what that reflection was, even though she had no idea how she could know that.

In her dream, she had been _human._

* * *

><p>"Kippy, Anima, are you aware of how time is being altered here?" Chatot asked. <em>Time? <em>Anima thought, not understanding.

"Because time is going out of whack, more and more bad Pokemon have been popping up," Kippy replied. _Time as in hours and minutes? What is going on here?_

"Right. And, whether or not time has anything to do with it, there seem to be a mass outbreak of...mystery dungeons."

"Mystery dungeons?" Anima asked.

"Anima, remember when we went to go get my Relic Fragment? The place we found it in was a mystery dungeon. They're strange places; their layouts change every time you go in them. You never know what items you'll find or what Pokemon you'll encounter. Also, if you faint in a dungeon, you'll lose all your money and half your items. Finally, you're kicked right out. They're very mysterious places. But they're still the source of many different treasures to be found," Kippy explained.

"Oh, good, you know. That simplifies things. All jobs are done in mystery dungeons. Today, because you're new recruits, you'll be doing a fairly easy job," Chatot said, looking over the bulletin board on the left side of the room. Hoping that he could find one suitable for novice explorers, he finally settled on a fairly recent request. "Here's one that you could probably do," Kippy took the paper from Chatot and read it aloud, with Anima reading over his shoulders.

_"Dear explorers,  
>I have lost my most prized possession: my pearl. I have been very restless ever since it disappeared, and I simply cannot hold still if it is not in its proper place on top of my head.<br>But hope remains! I have received a report that my pearl has been spotted on the deepest floor of Drenched Bluff. I am overjoyed that it finally turned up, but I know that I could never go to such a dangerous place by myself.  
>I beg of you, explorers, please travel to Drenched Bluff and retrieve my pearl!<br>Many thanks,  
>Spoink." <em>Kippy finished reading a few moments after Anima had. She was already nodding in acceptance, but Kippy seemed angry.

"This is it? We're just picking up an item somebody dropped?" He asked, frustrated. "I'd rather be out exploring new lands, or discovering treasure, or..."

"Quiet!" Chatot said. "I know what you'd rather be doing, but until you're experienced enough you just have to pay your dues! I'll remind you again: you'll be sent back here if either one of you faints. You'll lose all your money! And you'll lose up to half of your items! Make sure you understand before just charging in. Now go!"

"Urgh..." Kippy groaned. He turned to Anima, who just shrugged. She didn't know what else to say, so she just fiddled with the Cobalt Bow tied around her tail.

"Come on, Kippy," she urged as they climbed down the steps leading to the guild. "This is what real explorers do, too," Kippy shot her an odd look.

"But...you've lost your memory. How do you know?"Anima grinned.

"Well, why else would there be a bunch of requests like this if nobody ever took them?"

"All right. Let's go!" Kippy said as he and Anima headed out to Drenched Bluff.

* * *

><p>Anima and Kippy neared the entrance to the dungeon, and Kippy held back his friend as a wave of caution swept over him.<p>

"What?" Anima asked, irritated that she was being held back. She looked around at her surroundings; it was a bit like Beach Cave, with water on the sides. The only thing different was probably the fact that the sand had been replaced with rocks and that green plants were seen growing just about anywhere she looked.

"We should probably be careful," Kippy said. "This sounds like a seriously dangerous place,"

"I doubt that it's that bad..." Anima said. "But I see what you're saying. We'll take it carefully." Kippy seemed satisfied with this conclusion. He smiled as Anima led the way into the dungeon.

Once again, Kippy was astounded at how easily Anima managed to take down enemies. If he had to bet, he would have said that the Cobalt Bow was strengthening her naturally-powerful abilities. He felt a little bad that his partner was doing all the work; defeating enemies, taking damage, and using up precious Power Points.

"I don't know whether or not you used to be human," he said somewhere between the third and sixth floors of the dungeon, walking through a puddle of water to be next to Anima rather than behind her. "But one thing's for sure: You know how to be a Pokemon," A faint smile danced across Anima's face.

"Be that as it may, I still want to remember," She said wistfully, managing to dodge an attack as she did so. "I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something really important here...but I can't remember what it is."

"Try to remember a little bit at a time. No sense rushing things," Kippy said, putting in a Tackle to take out the enemy trying to jump Anima before. He got the feeling that she had let him defeat it just to give him something to do, but he still felt proud about it.

"Kippy," Anima said. "Is that what I think it is?" Sure enough, perched on a miniature plateau of some sorts in the middle of the room, was a sparkling, lavender pearl with a hint of pink to it. It glittered in the wan sunlight, and on either side of it were tiny "waterfalls" of clear blue water that squiggled out in little streams bordering the edge of the room.

"That's the pearl," Kippy confirmed, picking up the lost item and placing it in the Treasure Bag. "Let's head back to the guild,"

* * *

><p>Back at the guild, by the bulletin board they had received their mission at, Team Enigma accepted thanks from their client, Spoink. With his long-lost pearl atop his head, he did tiny little bounces of excitement as he expressed his gratitude for the umpteenth time.<p>

"Oh, thank you so much, Team Enigma! That pearl helps me keep my balance when bouncing. Without it, I was boinging and sproinging all over the place! I simply couldn't control where I was bouncing! That's why I'm covered in so many dents and dings, you see," Spoink said. Indeed, Anima had to admit that he was looking a bit worn down. "But thanks to you, that long nightmare is over! Please accept this reward!" With that, Spoink gave Team Enigma 2000 Poke. Kippy's expression was one of sheer amazement.

"You're giving us all this?"

"Of course! That's nothing compared to what my pearl is worth! Thank you again, Team Enigma!" With that, Spoink bounced up the steps and departed from the guild without another word. Chatot walked over to the team, who was by now discussing what they were going to do with all that money.

"Great job, you two! Very well done, indeed! Now, hand over that Poke!"

"What?" Kippy and Anima exclaimed as Chatot took the Poke.

"As part of your training, most of your spoils goes to the guild. Here's your share," With that, Chatot handed Kippy and Anima the amount of money left from his fiddling with it: 200 Poke.

"That's all?" Kippy exclaimed. "All that work, and that's all we get? That's not fair!" Anima nodded.

"Quiet, both of you!" Chatot admonished. "It's just another aspect of guild life you'll have to learn to accept! Now," he said, heading downstairs. "Wash up before you report to the mess hall for dinner. You're filthy," Anima's eyes narrowed slightly at the retreating figure, but she shrugged it off.

"Oh, well," Kippy said miserably. "Let's just head to the showers and go get some dinner," Anima tried to cheer her friend up, but could only manage a weak smile in reply.

"Moping about it isn't going to change anything," She said. "Now, let's hurry. I'm starving,"

* * *

><p>After a short, freezing-cold shower, Anima met up with Kippy in the mess hall. The others had already arrived and seemed to just be settling down, so she assumed she wasn't <em>too<em> late. In front of her was an array of colorful fruits that had a delicious aroma, and her mouth watered at the sight of such food. She dove in with only a slight hesitation, waiting for her fellow apprentices to begin eating before rushing in herself. On her left, Kippy was wolfing down his food like there was no tomorrow.

"Kippy, take it EASY," Loudred said from the other side of the table. "You're EATING like you'll NEVER see FOOD again!" With that, he shoved an enormous mouthful into his gaping mouth.

"Eek! Loudred, where have your manners gone?" Another apprentice, Sunflora, exclaimed.

"Probably still lost in the last dungeon he was knocked out in," Croagunk chuckled. All the apprentices started laughing, but Loudred didn't seem to find it that amusing.

"HEY! Everybody makes MISTAKES!" he said, defending himself.

"It's just that some make more than others," Anima commented, unable to contain herself. There was a momentary silence before the laughter resumed even louder than before. Of course, that was probably because even Loudred had joined in.

"TOO true, Anima, too TRUE!" After a pause, he said, "You know WHAT? You're ALRIGHT. Liveliest apprentices WE'VE seen in a LONG time." Anima and Kippy looked around the table at their fellow guildmembers, and smiled. The ice had thawed between them, and they were now accepted into the family of Wigglytuff's Guild.

That night, Anima and Kippy went to their room, stuffed with food.

"That was good," Anima said, flopping backwards onto her bed.

"Yeah," Kippy said. "I'm still disappointed about the money thing...but getting to help Spoink out, and being thanked by him...that was the best part. It made me realize that I did the right thing by joining an exploration team. Hey, maybe someday we'll find out the secrets behind my Relic Fragment," Kippy replied. "We better get some sleep. Don't want to oversleep again. Goodnight, Anima,"

"'Night, Kippy." Despite all of the things that had happened that day, sleep easily claimed both of them moments later. The moon shone peacefully down on the whole region as it slowly but surely sank into a deep slumber, awaiting the hopeful sunrise that came with a new day.


	5. Regret

_For this chapter, we'll be leaving Team Enigma back in their room, sound asleep, for pretty much the whole chapter. Meanwhile, let's see how our favorite Time Gear thief is doing at the moment..._

_By the way, the quote at the end is by Albert Camus. I didn't know where to put it in the chapter, so I just decided to put it here.  
><em>

* * *

><p>The dwindling sunlight turned the evening sky a deep, rich orange unlike anything Grovyle had ever seen. Of course, all he'd known was a future painted in several shades of gray, so pretty much <em>everything<em> here was unlike anything he'd ever seen. It was staggeringly beautiful...and personally he found it hard to believe that the Pokemon here didn't give it a second thought. _Can you really blame them?_ He asked himself, trying to avoid being angry at the locals' ignorance. _This is all _they've_ known...of course they're going to take it for granted._ Despite himself, Grovyle found himself wincing as a guilty thought crossed his mind for the thousandth time today. _I don't have the right to be enjoying this. Not when she's not here._ Uncharacteristic tears threatened to well up in his eyes as he thought back on the time-traveling accident upon their entrance into the Passage of Time. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could still see the blood from that life-threatening injury stealing his partner's life away. What made it worse, though, was that _that attack had been meant for him._ Maybe, if he had _just been paying attention,_ this never would have happened. If he hadn't let his guard down, if he hadn't been foolish enough to believe that they were actually _safe..._Grovyle closed his eyes to block the tears blurring his vision and almost ran head-on into a tree that had seemingly jumped from out of nowhere. Oh, if Anima could see him now, stumbling blindly through the woods. She probably would've thought that he was either poisoned or confused, and would have slipped a Heal Seed into his hand, a small, kind smile on her face all the while.

_Anima..._The name brought up more memories than Grovyle could ever hope to bring up on his own power. Hunting for clues to the Time Gears' locations, studying Unown runes by the light of a dying fire, foraging for food to stock their ever-diminishing supplies...He found himself smiling, but he didn't need a mirror to know that it didn't reach his eyes. He remembered how he met Anima. She was on the run from Dusknoir and the Sableye Squad even then, because of her involvement in the Underground. He'd found her taking cover on a tree branch high above the ground: starving, wounded, and exhausted. Even in her less-than-prime state, she had been cautious, unused to Pokemon that weren't trying to kill her. But she had come to trust him over what would have been the next two or three days, and the two had been inseparable ever since. It was almost like they shared a mind at times. Which was why it hurt so much that she wasn't here right now.

_Anima, where are you? Did you survive...?_ He thought, although he knew that the odds of that happening were extraordinarily slim. Anima's injuries were serious to begin with; he had known just by a glance that time was definitely not on her side. But if her arrival to the past was anything like his, that would have meant that she would have been unconscious for at least an hour. And if that had happened...Grovyle forced himself to complete his thoughts, despite the pain flaring up in his heart. If that had happened, then there was a more-than-likely chance that she had never woken up.

Then again, there was always the slim possibility that she had woken up shortly after arriving...or maybe she had never passed out at all. Even though she didn't have the bag they'd packed, she was highly resourceful and probably would have found something she could use to heal herself or at least stop things from getting worse until she could find something suitable. Grovyle's hopes lifted for a split second before they went crashing down again. They had no idea what the Pokemon of the past would be like; that was one of the issues they had come across when it came to time travel. If Anima had landed in the wrong place, where predatory, less-than-willing to help you out...and considering the obviously weakened state she was in...

"No!" Grovyle said out loud, stopping his rushing thoughts with the second thing he'd said ever since he woke up in the past. The first, he remembered with a pang, was "Anima? Are you alright?". He continued arguing with himself, trying to put some faith in his partner and finding it difficult. It wasn't that he didn't trust Anima's capabilities as far as handling herself went...she'd survived a lot in the future. But it was clear that she had needed help in the Passage of Time. Maybe he would've been able to give it to her if _he'd just held on..._The desperation he felt in the Passage of Time was the same as what he felt now. Anima might be lying dead somewhere far away from him right now, never aware of anything except the future's darkness. _She shouldn't have shielded me,_ he thought bitterly. _She should've thought about herself for once. Just once. _But Grovyle knew that if Anima _had_ suddenly developed a better sense of self-preservation, then _he_ wouldn't be here right now. And then what would have happened? A human in a strictly Pokemon-inhabited world would have attracted a lot of attention...one thing that Anima and Grovyle couldn't afford to be attracting. Low profiles meant more time before Dusknoir managed to track them down, which, in turn, meant less of a chance of getting sent back and having to start over. Because time was another thing they couldn't afford to lose.

_Would she want me to be like this? Putting the mission on hold because I don't want to do this without her?_ He questioned himself. No, Anima wouldn't want that. She would have wanted him to continue on even if she couldn't. That was their agreement they had made back in the future. But there was a mile between saying that you were going to do something and actually _doing_ it. Grovyle questioned whether or not he was actually aware of what he had been saying. Leaving Anima in the dust? When she had done so much in helping them get this far? Unthinkable. It couldn't be done, and even if it could he wasn't sure he would be able to do it.

But he had to. If Anima was disabled (he preferred that term over the one he truly feared applying to someone he held so close: "dead"), then that meant that it was up to him. Even if it hurt. Grovyle took out a worn sheet of paper and looking it over, comparing the image drawn onto it with the surroundings. Anima had done an excellent job of drawing out the entrance to the dungeon containing the first Time Gear: Treeshroud Forest. Of course, Anima did an excellent job drawing _anything_. She was a master of the pencil and paper, drawing out images that looked like it could come to life and coloring them vibrantly, being able to see past the gray coloring of the future to the true colors it had once been. It was a talent of hers that he admired, among several other things she did exceptionally well.

"I'll see our mission through to the very end, Anima," He vowed, hoping that wherever she was, she could hear him. "I promise, I won't let you down," With that, he set down the Treasure Bag he'd been carrying the whole time. Climbing up into a tree to spend the night, he took one more look at another picture Anima had drawn. It was her first attempt at drawing a Time Gear, and while she insisted that it wasn't nearly as good as the several other ones that followed, Grovyle had always liked this one the best. The hopefulness they'd both been experiencing as she set the pen to paper to draw this out still seemed embedded into the drawing. The final rays of sunlight fell below the mountains as he rested his head against the branch and closed his eyes. He could still feel Anima's presence beside him, could still hear her quiet breathing when she finally caved in to his insistence to get some sleep. He soon fell asleep, dreaming of the hand he'd failed to hold onto slipping out of reach and the partner he may never see again. His agonized thoughts that somehow managed to enter his sleep echoed through his dreams, dwindling into silence as he saw his desperation reflecting back at him through a pair of human, cobalt-blue eyes. _Arceus, why must you be so cruel? Why must you remind me of my greatest failure when I'm already well aware of what I have lost? __Do you enjoy my suffering? Are you trying to make me regret what happened even more than I do already? _A quote floated aimlessly through his mind, and he grasped at it as if it were a real, tangible thing. It described his situation perfectly, and as he was jolted awake by the memory of his partner's scream he found himself murmuring it under his breath as he tried to go back to sleep.

_"_Ah! You can die, the world can collapse, I have lost the one I love. I must now live in this terrible solitude where memory is torture."

He somehow managed to go back to sleep, but even the moon and stars hovering high above him seemed to be blaming him for the loss of his partner. For all he knew, they were right.


	6. Flashbacks and Flashforwards

_Three words. Longest. Chapter. Ever. Bear with me, though. Things are starting to pick up a bit._

* * *

><p>Anima jolted awake once again, although it took one look for her to know that hardly any time had passed since she had fallen asleep. <em>If <em>she had even managed to fall asleep in the first place. She didn't know whether or not it was just a dream, but she swore she could hear somebody talking to her. _"I'll see our mission through to the very end, Anima. I promise, I won't let you down,"_. What was _that _supposed to mean? Mission? What mission?

No matter what that meant, Anima couldn't shake the feeling that she _knew_ that voice. She never got a real sense of what it sounded, but she felt her heart flutter slightly at the sound of it. She felt as if she should _remember_ that voice and the mission it was talking about, but she honestly had no clue. Anima looked over at Kippy, who was sound asleep, his chest rising and falling with a slow, consistent rhythm. She smiled faintly, wishing that her circumstances were as...simple, as Kippy's seemed to be. No memory loss, no strange transformations, no weird dreams that seemed almost real, and _certainly _no almost-familiar voices calling out to her in the dead of night. Just a problem with fear...was that too much to ask for? All she wanted was a simple existence like what Kippy and the other Pokemon here had. An existence with simple, consistent day-to-day living. With a family to go home to and memories to look back on when sleep eluded them. What could Anima do when insomnia struck? When she had no past, no family, no _story_, what could she do to pass the night away? She had to face the facts: Watching Kippy sleep all night was going to get boring after a while. Anima got up and crept out of their room, suddenly curious to see how the guild looked at night.

She looked over to the room on her left, where Loudred, Bidoof, and Corphish were sleeping. Loudred was snoring loud enough to wake the dead, but the other two didn't seem to notice it. _Good for them,_ Anima thought, looking over to her right. Sunflora and Chimecho were exceedingly quieter, although Sunflora would occasionally say something along the lines of "Eek!" or "Oh my gosh!" in her sleep. Anima crept onwards, entering the large room where the morning briefings were held. Wigglytuff's door was shut, and quite frankly Anima was too nervous to set foot inside there. Anima considered heading back to her and Kippy's room before she was caught when a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"What are you doing wandering around the guild at night?" Croagunk asked from behind her. Anima jumped, whirling around to face him.

"_What do you think you're doing?_" She hissed, infuriated.

"Meh-heh-heh! Didn't mean to scare you, there. But if you're always that jumpy it can't be helped."

"I thought I was the only one awake! Of course I'm gonna be jumpy!" Anima paused, her ears picking up sounds too delicate for Croagunk's to register. Someone was coming from upstairs, and judging from the sound of it...Anima strained her ears against the silence building up, closing her eyes in case that would help in any way. Judging from the sound of the footsteps...

"It's Chatot," She whispered as loudly as she dared. Croagunk nodded once before diving over the counter of his "Swap Shop" as Anima hightailed it to her room, leaping over Kippy and landing square on her bed. She curled up and pretended to be asleep as best as she could with her racing heart. She heard Chatot enter the room quietly. He seemed to look around for a bit, gave a small, thoughtful "Hmm,", and walked back out of the room. Anima internally sighed in relief. _That was a little too close for my liking,_ she thought. _Maybe _now_ I'll get some sleep.  
><em>

* * *

><p>After morning briefing, Kippy turned to Anima and asked,<p>

"Well...what do you think we're supposed to be doing?" Anima shrugged.

"Same as yesterday, maybe? Bulletin boards?"

"Worth a shot. Oh!" Kippy exclaimed.

"What? What is it?" Anima asked, whirling around. After last night, she was extra cautious around Chatot.

"On your arm...right above your elbow..." Anima looked where Kippy had specified and saw what could only be described as a birthmark. It was a deep brown, but it was in the perfect shape of a star.

"I honestly didn't notice that," She said quietly. "But it's probably been there for...well, for longer than I can remember. Let's go check out the upstairs," Just as the two were heading upstairs, Chatot came over.

"Oh, still don't know what we're doing, do we?" He sighed. "Come with me," With that, he lead Team Enigma upstairs to the bulletin boards.

"Wait a minute," Kippy said. "Last time, we did a job from _that_ side of the room..."

"That's right!" Chatot said musically. "Today, I'm going to give you a job from _this_ board!"

"But what's the difference?" Kippy asked. Anima cocked her head to the side.

"There's a bunch of pictures of all different kinds of Pokemon up here," She said. "Whereas on that one, it was just a bunch of letters,"

"Wow! They look pretty cool! Who are they, Chatot? Famous explorers?"

"I somehow doubt that..." Anima murmured, taking in the slightly-menacing air the pictures seemed to radiate.

"Anima's right. These Pokemon are not explorers. Instead, they are wanted outlaws."

"Outlaws? All these Pokemon are outlaws?" Kippy exclaimed in shock. Anima thought that for someone who was commenting about how lawless things were around here, he was pretty surprised that there were this many outlaws. From what she had heard, Anima had thought there would be _more. _

"Right. Thus, they have bounties on their heads. I want you to pick one and bring him...or her...to justice."

"What? But...these Pokemon are _bad_!" Kippy hollered, more surprised than ever.

"Hee-hee! Just kidding!" Chatot laughed. "Like all things, these Pokemon have different...erm, levels of badness, you could say. Some Pokemon on this board are evil through and through, while others are just petty crooks. So you have evil to naughty...and everything in between!"

"But even so...they're all still bad Pokemon..." Kippy said miserably.

"We'll just have to take it slow and steady, Kippy," Anima said. "We took out that Koffing and Zubat in Beach Cave, didn't we?"

"Y-yeah..but still..." Anima internally groaned. Then again, maybe she _was_ glad her circumstances weren't like Kippy's. _Somebody_ needed to be the constantly brave one around here, and for now it wasn't going to be him.

"Look, Team Enigma, don't take this the wrong way, but I have other things to do besides waiting for you to pick out an outlaw to take down...and you may connect better with somebody on a reasonably closer level to your own..." Chatot turned towards the stairs leading downstairs and hollered, "Bidoof! Come up here, please!" A few seconds later, the Pokemon Team Enigma knew as Bidoof came up the steps, out of breath from the quick climb.

"Huff-huff...did you need something, Chatot?"

"Yes, Bidoof, I did," Chatot said. "These are the new recruits, as you know by now. I would like for you to give them a quick tour of the surrounding areas...what any local exploration team needs to know,"

"Sure thing! You can count on me, Chatot!" Bidoof said happily, watching as Chatot made his way back downstairs. "Aw, shucks," he said as soon as the Music Note Pokemon was out of earshot.

"Why say that, Bidoof?" Anima asked. Bidoof seemed on the verge of tears.

"I..I'm just glad that there are finally some new recruits under me! It's been so long...I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed..." He sniffled. Composing himself, he said,

"Alright. Let's get on with the tour! This way, if you please," Bidoof lead the two Team Enigma members downstairs.

"This is the deepest floor here," Bidoof said. "That there's the mess hall, one of my favorite locations," He signaled to a hallway past Croagunk's cauldron, where a long table sat. "Loudred and Diglett work over there," A hole with a vine poking out of it was pointed out, and Loudred turned around and waved for a second before turning back to yell at Diglett. "And there's Croagunk over there," Bidoof shuddered slightly. "I don't know what he's doing; he's always fiddling with that cauldron of his. Yup-yup, it all looks mighty shifty to me. Anyways, the crew rooms are over there," He pointed to the hall on the other end of the room. "And Guildmaster Wigglytuff's quarters is right there," Wigglytuff's coral-pink door with the strange, swirl-like pattern emblazoned on it was closed for the moment. Every now and then Anima thought she heard a muffled crash resound from the other side of the door. _I don't want to know,_ She thought, rolling her eyes in humor. Wigglytuff was a strange one, all right.

"And that's all you need to know about this level. Back up the stairs, if you please! We're heading to Treasure Town!"

* * *

><p>A cool breeze rippled gently through the air as Bidoof, Anima, and Kippy headed down the stairs leading to the guild.<p>

"Come on, Anima! Hurry up!" Kippy called, running out in front.

"Kippy, careful! You're gonna fall off the stairs!" Anima cried as Kippy began to lose his balance.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed, trying to right himself before he went toppling down the stairs. Anima lunged forwards, aiming to grab his tail and pull him back before he could be sent toppling down the stone steps. She succeeded in one, but not the other.

Grabbing onto Kippy's tail, Anima was able to yank him backwards before he fell. Unfortunately for Anima, _she_ was the one who was sent falling down the stairs.

"Oh, Anima!" Kippy exclaimed as he watched Anima topple down the fifty stone steps.

"Yup-yup! That's gonna hurt, by golly!" Bidoof commented. Anima felt her head hit one of the steps before she found herself rolling to a stop, banged up beyond belief but still able to move everything.

"Ow...that hurt..." She groaned, closing her eyes as her head throbbed in pain. A flash of images flitted through her mind as she did so, almost-substantial memories hovering just out of reach.

She reached anyways, trying to make sense of what her mind was trying to show her. What it was trying to remind her of.

**_"Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard there," A voice asked. Anima opened her eyes to see something the likes of which she had never seen. It seemed to be a small pink Pokemon with small, silvery wings and large, bright blue eyes. It dawned on Anima that that could possibly be what the sky used to look like before it took on its current gray hue._**

**_"Your...your eyes...they're like the sky," She blurted out. _**

**_"Hm? What was that? I don't think they've changed color..."_**

**_"No, not that! I mean...well, what the sky _used_ to be colored," The Pokemon hovered closer to Anima, trapping her in her scrutinizing gaze._**

**_"An eight-year-old, human girl...wandering aimlessly around the forest...knowing what the world used to be?" She murmured to herself. _**

**_"I've heard stories," Anima explained sheepishly, although a bit annoyed about being accused of "wandering aimlessly". "From the elders. They tell stories to us," _**

**_"'Us'?"_**

**_"Y-yes. There's more than one human still here, you know,"_**

**_"Tee-hee! Of course I know that!" The Pokemon said, all traces of seriousness gone as she spun around in the air once in good humor. "I'm just surprised that you would know! Those stories generally don't make it to the younger generations, you know!"_**

"Um, Anima? Are you okay?" Kippy asked, his voice chasing away the memory Anima almost recalled living.

"Yeah. I'm fine," She muttered, slightly annoyed.

"Well, okay. We're just gonna head into Treasure Town..."

"All right, I'm coming." She said. Despite the pain, she found herself able to work into a sitting position and, from there, a standing one. "I'm ready. Let's go," She said at last. Bidoof hesitated, as if making sure that Anima wasn't about to fall flat on her face, and headed off deeper into Treasure Town.

"That's Duskull Bank right over there," he said, indicating the first building on the right. "When you store Poke in here, it won't be lost, so a lot of exploration teams like to drop off their cash before heading into tougher dungeons. Chansey Daycare's over this way," He said, walking a little further along and pointing out a round, pink building on the left. "She takes care of Eggs you get while doing tougher missions...but I've never gotten one. Electivire's Link Shop is supposed to be over there, across from the daycare, but it looks like Electivire isn't here right now." Bidoof lead the way across the bridge that had been put up over the small stream dividing Treasure Town in half.

"I can tell you about Treasure Town too," Kippy said upon reaching the other side. "The Kecleon Market's over here," He said, pointing to a shop where two Kecleon, one green and the other purple, sat. "They sell all sorts of useful exploration items, so before heading out we might want to stock up on supplies. Beside that is Kangaskhan Storage. Items stored here will never be lost, so if you're going into a tough dungeon and have an item you can't afford to lose, put in in there. And that's pretty much it!" Kippy said.

"Golly, you know a lot about Treasure Town, too!" Bidoof said. "I suppose you know what you're doing, so as soon as you're all geared up I'll help you pick out an outlaw for you to catch. I'll meet you by the bulletin board back in the guild, alright?"

"All right. Thanks, Bidoof!" Kippy said.

"See you, Bidoof!" Anima added before heading to look at the merchandise on display in the Kecleon Shop. The green Kecleon was polishing a bunch of Iron Thorns while his brother was organizing Wonder Orbs in neat rows.

"Oh, hello! I don't recall seeing you around before," The first said, addressing Anima.

"I'm...new around here. Kippy and I joined the guild yesterday, so you'll be seeing us around. My name's Anima," Anima explained, looking over at Kippy, who was talking with the Kangaskhan running the storage system.

"Well, might I say it's a pleasure to meet you, Anima!" The purple Kecleon cut in. "You don't see a lot of Meowth around here,"

"That's what I've been told. I was wondering if I could buy those Iron Thorns. All eight of them. And two of those Apples...and a Stun Seed."

"Of course! That will be 112 Poke, please," Anima handed over a little bit more than half of yesterday's earnings, hoping that Kippy wouldn't mind. Kippy came over to Anima.

"We don't have a lot of items, but do you want to put your bow in storage? Just to keep it safe?" Anima looked at the Cobalt Bow tied around her tail. She hadn't wanted to put it on her ears or around her neck, but she didn't want it in storage, either.

"I don't see the purpose of having it just to keep it locked away the whole time," Anima said. "It's pretty special,"

"All right," Kippy said. "I didn't want to put my Relic Fragment away, either. It's my treasure, and I'd just wind up worrying about it too much, even if Kangaskhan says that it's perfectly safe," He gave a slight laugh, and Anima joined in quietly.

"Misters Kecleon!" A young voice called out. A Marill and an Azurill came up to the shop.

"Well, if it isn't the Marill brothers! What can I do for you, my young friends?" The green Kecleon greeted happily.

"May we please buy an Apple?" Azurill asked. It was immediately clear that he was the youngest, if not by his basic evolutionary form then by his voice.

"Of course!" Kecleon fiddled with a bag behind the counter before handing it to the two.

"Thank you!" Marill said, heading off with Azurill.

"Excuse me, Kecleon, but who are they?" Kippy asked.

"Those two children are brothers," The purple Kecleon explained. "You see, recently their mother has fallen ill, so they're doing the shopping. Despite their ages, they've stepped up and taken charge!"

"That's awesome!" Anima exclaimed.

"Misters Kecleon!" Marill cried as he and Azurill dashed back towards the Kecleon Shop.

"Oh? What brings you back so soon?"

"There was an extra Apple in the bag," Marill explained.

"We didn't pay for this many." Azurill added.

"Oh, that, my friends, is a gift from me and my brother. Enjoy it among yourselves,"

"Really? Thank you!" Marill cried happily. "Come on, Azurill! We have to go look for that lost item, now!"

"Okay!" Azurill said, heading after his brother. "Whoops!" He cried as he tripped. The Apple he was holding bounced out of his bag and rolled to a stop at Anima's feet. Anima picked it up as Azurill got up and headed over to her.

"Sorry about that. Thank you," He said as Anima returned his item to him. During the exchange, Anima's hand brushed against Azurill ever so slightly.

"Azurill! We gotta go!" Marill called from across the bridge.

"Coming!" Azurill cried. Nodding to Anima again, he said, "Thank you," Anima watched as Azurill joined his brother.

"Isn't that cute? They're really taking charge!" Kippy said, but Anima didn't notice. A sudden wave of dizziness crashed onto her without warning.

_Urgh...what's going on? _She thought as her vision went black. A white flash sped across her vision, but after that the inky blackness remained.

**_"H-H-Help!" _**

Anima's eyes shot open as the scream rang out in her head. The world was just how it was a moment ago, with Kippy rattling on about the Marill brothers and the Kecleon going about their own business.

None of them heard it.

"...Anima? Are you okay?" Anima turned to Kippy with a serious glint in her blue eyes.

"Did you hear someone scream just now?" She asked quietly.

"Scream? No, I didn't hear anything like that. Hey, Kecleon brothers," The two Kecleon turned to look at Kippy.

"What is it, Kippy?"

"Did either or you hear a scream just now?" The Kecleon also seemed puzzled.

"No, we didn't," the second said before returning to his task of sorting the TM's.

"Hmm. Seems like you were just imagining things, Anima," Kippy said. Anima nodded, although she wasn't in the least convinced. _No, I didn't imagine it. That scream..._ Anima looked back, trying to get a sense of the voice behind it. _There's no mistaking it. That was Azurill's scream!_

"Let's head back to the guild, Anima," Kippy said. "We don't want to keep Bidoof waiting,"

"No...no, we don't," Anima murmured as Kippy half-pushed her across the bridge.

"Hey, look! It's the Marill brothers!" Kippy exclaimed. Sure enough, Marill and Azurill were talking to another Pokemon.

"Really? That's great!" Marill exclaimed.

"Yay! Thank you so much!" Azurill said.

"Aw, I'd have to be the coldest Pokemon ever to turn a blind eye to kids like you in need of help!" The Pokemon-a Drowzee-replied good-naturedly.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kippy asked as he and Anima headed over to join them.

"We lost a very special item a while ago. We've been looking for it everywhere, but we can't seem to find it. That was when Mr. Drowzee told us that he might have seen our item somewhere!" Marill said.

"So we're going to go look for it right now!" Azurill added.

"That's great! Good for you!" Kippy said enthusiastically, looking over at Anima, who had remained silent this whole time. She was eyeing Drowzee nervously out of the corner of her eye. _This seems odd somehow,_ Anima thought, her intuition screaming out that this was wrong somehow. _It's odd that Drowzee just _happens_ to know where their item is...but besides that, I'm getting this weird vibe from him. Something's off. Terribly so._

"Good luck!" Kippy said as Marill and Azurill walked past. As Drowzee followed, he bumped into Anima.

"Whoops! Sorry," He said before walking off. Anima thought that the tone he'd used was the same that Koffing had used on the beach when he and Zubat had stolen Kippy's Relic Fragment, but her thoughts were cut off by another spell of dizziness.

"It's great that Drowzee is helping those kids. With more and more Pokemon going evil, it's hard to keep doing good things," Kippy said, completely unaware to Anima's struggle to stay on her feet. Again, the darkness blacked out her vision, and again the while light was dancing across her eyes. But this time, it wasn't just a voice. She saw what was going on as well.

**_Azurill and Drowzee are by themselves in what looks like a mountainous area. _**

**_"If you don't cooperate, it'll mean big trouble for you!" Drowzee snarls in a voice totally different from what Anima heard in Treasure Town._**

**_"H-h-help!" Azurill cries._**

"Ack!" Anima gasped as she snapped back to reality. _Wh-what was that? Drowzee...well, that would explain that bad vibe I was getting off him earlier, but still..._

"Is something wrong, Anima?" Kippy asked.

"I saw Azurill cornered by Drowzee. Drowzee was threatening him," Anima blurted before she could think of how to rationalize it.

"What? But that doesn't make sense! Drowzee seemed like such a nice Pokemon..." Kippy said.

"Well, obviously there's more to the story than that," Anima insisted.

"What you're saying _is_ concerning," Kippy said. "But we're just apprentices. It's not like we can just go and do whatever we please. For now, we should probably return to our training,"

"All right," Anima sighed, following her partner back towards the guild. _But what if I'm right, and Azurill really _is_ in trouble? What do we do then?  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Are you two ready?" Bidoof asked.<p>

"Yeah," Kippy said.

"All right. Let's see...you have this sorry bunch of characters to choose from," Bidoof said, turning his attention to the bulletin board. Suddenly, an alarm blared, shattering the quiet air.

"Stand clear! Stand clear! Bulletin board update in progress!" A voice called from behind the wall. The walls shook for a moment before the bulletin board flipped around, revealing a wooden board with a red, diagonal slash slicing across it.

"What just happened?" Kippy asked.

"The information's being updated. That's Dugtrio's job here," Bidoof explained. "He tunnels behind the bulletin boards and swaps the old jobs with new ones. It's a job that doesn't get noticed around here very much, but Dugtrio takes it pretty serious," The alarm sounded again.

"Update complete! Stand clear! Stand clear!" With that, the board whirled back around with fresh wanted posters pinned to it.

"You have the pick of this sorry lot now," Bidoof said, although Anima thought it was a bit unnecessary. She scanned over the posters a bit before she saw Kippy shuddering out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Bidoof said, looking from Kippy to the boards and back again. "Something got you spooked?" From where Anima was standing, it was clear that Kippy's shivering was out of anger, not fear. But she still couldn't see what was wrong...

"Anima! Do you see this? Top left!" Anima followed Kippy's instructions and was shocked at what she saw.

_A wanted poster with Drowzee on it..._

"It's Drowzee!" He said, also a bit unnecessarily. "That means Marill and Azurill are in danger! Come on, Anima!"

"Don't have to ask me twice!" Anima agreed, rushing up the steps with Kippy hot on her heels, leaving an extremely puzzled Bidoof in their wake.

"By golly...what just happened?" He asked, confused beyond belief.

* * *

><p>Team Enigma was making its way out of the guild when they ran into Marill.<p>

"Kippy! Anima! I'm glad I found you!" He panted, out of breath.

"What happened?" Kippy asked just as Anima exclaimed "Where's Azurill?". Marill answered both questions quickly.

"I'm not sure! Azurill and Drowzee rushed ahead, and I was behind! I called and called, but they didn't come back!"

"Which way did they go?" Anima asked.

"This way! They went to Mount Horn!" Marill said, leading the way to Team Enigma's destination.

* * *

><p>"This is where they went?" Kippy asked Marill upon their arrival.<p>

"Right," Marill confirmed.

"Anima, you said your vision took place in a mountainous place, right?" Kippy asked Anima.

"Uh-huh," Anima nodded.

"Well, then, let's go! We have no time to waste!" Kippy and Anima rushed into the dungeon, leaving Marill by the entrance.


	7. Wanted Outlaw Apprehended!

Anima was at once aware of the differences between Mount Horn and previous dungeons. The Pokemon here had higher levels, which in turn meant more chances for them to inflict damage on _her_. And for a Normal-type in a dungeon infested with Rock- and Fighting- types, this was a situation meant to be avoided if it could be helped.

Needless to say, Anima was really glad that Kippy had learned Water Gun in Drenched Bluff. Any Rock-type that happened to get in their way was quickly knocked out as they made their way through the dungeon, becoming more and more anxious for Azurill as the floors increased in level and difficulty. Anima and Kippy ran down the hallways, which were made of light gray rocks that were all the exact same color. There was barely any color variation here; all the landscape was the same gray color. _Nothing's paralyzed. Not yet, anyways,_ a small voice in the back of Anima's head said. She jumped, momentarily letting her guard down and being rewarded with a Wake-Up Slap administered by a Fighting-type that she couldn't name. _'Paralyzed'? What's that supposed to mean? _She thought, passing her turn as Kippy took it down with Water Gun. No sense in keeping him out of the action. They _were_ going to bring down an outlaw, and they both needed to participate in it if they wanted to win.

"Anima? Are you okay? You've been in a daze ever since we hit this room," Kippy said, concerned as Anima headed up the stairs to the next floor.

"I'm fine, Kippy," She said dismissively. "It's just a lot to worry about, you know? We're taking on a dangerous outlaw here," Kippy shivered a bit. _Maybe that wasn't a good idea,_ Anima thought. _I can't have him freaking out on me now,_

"We'll be fine," Anima said. "Besides, nobody else knows where Azurill is. It's up to us," The thought of Azurill scared half to death seemed to help Kippy snap out of his fear.

"You're right, Anima! Let's go!" With that, he marched past her into a room she'd been trying to avoid.

"Kippy! Wait! That's a..." Suddenly, at least ten Pokemon dropped down from the ceiling as Kippy let out a cry of surprise.

"...Monster House," Anima finished, a second too late. She fished a Foe-Hold Orb out of the Treasure Bag and deftly slammed it into the ground.

"You...you..." Kippy stammered, still getting over the shock of being ambushed by seven-plus Pokemon.

"Foe-Hold Orbs," Anima said, gathering up the items in the room before heading towards the stairs, which just so happened to be in the next room over. "Never leave for a dungeon without one," Kippy gave a nervous laugh before following her, looking over his shoulder as he did so.

"I...I don't like Monster Houses," He said. "I've only seen one once, and I don't like them already," Anima laughed once, a harsh, hard-as-steel sound that didn't sound like it was able to come out of a Meowth's throat.

"Who doesn't, Kippy? Who doesn't?"

"Point taken," Kippy mumbled. Anima suddenly put her paw over his mouth.

"Quiet! I think I hear them!" Sure enough, the voices of Azurill and Drowzee could be heard from up ahead.

"Mr. Drowzee, don't you think we should wait for Marill?" Azurill asked, slightly nervous but unaware of what was going on.

"Sorry, kid. Your brother? He's not here, and neither is that item of yours," Drowzee said, his pleasant demeanor in Treasure Town completely dissolved.

"Wh-what?"

"Haven't you figured it out? I deceived you."

"I...I..." Azurill said. Anima could tell that he was getting upset; she could practically hear the tears in his voice. "I WANT MY BROTHER!" From the sounds of it, Azurill was trying to make a break for it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Drowzee said. "I'll get you outta here, but first there's something I want you to do. You see that hole in the wall? Through there, there's supposed to be a whole treasure trove of thief's gold! Only problem is, I'm too big to squeeze through. That's where you come in. All you gotta do is go through there, get the treasure, and get out and I'll take you back to your brother."

"N-no!" Azurill yelled, once more trying to run.

"If you don't cooperate, it'll mean big trouble for you!" Drowzee threatened menacingly. His slightly-cordial attitude was gone; the words he spoke now resembled a snarl. Anima gritted her teeth. How _anybody _could threaten a little kid like Azurill...it was going to take all her self-control to _not_ go charging in in a blind rage. Judging from Kippy's expression, he'd had enough as well.

"Hey, you! Knock it off!" he yelled as he and Anima made their presences known. Enough was enough. Drowzee whirled around, clearly taken by surprise.

"H-how did you find this place?" He asked in shock.

"We're Team Enigma, an exploration team! No outlaws can avoid us!" Kippy continued. Anima's eyes widened in surprise; Kippy was ad-libbing, and stretching the truth quite a bit. His strategy was good, however. Providing nothing went wrong...

"An exploration team? What? How did you...wait. Are you trembling?" Drowzee asked, going from terrified to smug as he saw that Kippy was, indeed, shuddering in fear again. Anima almost slapped her forehead. So close...they were so close to fooling him.

"Oh, I get it. You may be an exploration team, but you're total rookies!" Drowzee said, laughing.

"Rookies or not...we're not letting you get away with this!" Anima said, seeing as though Kippy was still fighting his fear. He shot a grateful look at her, who returned it with a nod. Still chuckling, Drowzee said,

"I've been chased by a lot of exploration teams in my days...but none as sorry-looking as you two!"

"At least _we're _not threatening innocent kids," Anima shot back.

"Oh, is that how you wanna play? You've got yourself an attitude, huh? Somebody should teach you some manners!" Anima smirked, her claws poised and ready for action. Kippy stood up straight beside her.

"We're not letting you get away, Drowzee, you bully!" He put in. Drowzee laughed again.

"I'll give you a pounding and send you running! We'll just see if you can bring _me_ to justice!" Anima reached into the Treasure Bag, pulling out eight gleaming projectiles waiting for action.

"Bring it," She said, hurling the first Iron Thorn at him. All the while, she couldn't help but notice how _natural_ it felt. _Muscle memory, _she said. _I used to do this a lot,_ Her first Iron Thorn hit its target, and just like Koffing and Zubat had done, Drowzee put himself within striking range.

"Faint Attack!" Anima yelled, performing the move she'd learned on the way up there. She thanked Arceus for being kind enough to _not_ turn her into a Skitty. They were cute, sure, but the Normalize ability would have gotten on her nerves a long time ago.

"Water Gun!" Kippy hollered, also hitting his target. Drowzee took half a step back from the attacks, but he still sent a Hypnosis attack at Anima.

"Anima!" Kippy yelled, watching his partner fall asleep in the middle of a battle.

"Tackle!" Drowzee collided with him head-on. It was a powerful blow; Kippy was on the verge of exhaustion.

_I...I have to do this. Anima's asleep, Azurill's scared out of his wits, and we have no backup. It's up to me._

"Water Gun!" He said, sending a powered-up blast of water at Drowzee. It sent him flying backwards and crashing into a large boulder.

"Ugh...you're better than I thought..." He muttered before fainting. Anima woke up moments later.

"Kippy! You did it!" She exclaimed. She and Kippy went over to see Azurill, who was still petrified with fear.

"We're gonna take you back to your brother, okay? You're safe now," Kippy said soothingly.

"O-okay," Azurill said, sticking close to Anima as the three made their way out of Mount Horn.

* * *

><p>"Azurill! Are you okay?" Marill asked as Team Enigma brought out Azurill.<p>

"Waaaah! Marill! It was so scary!" Azurill sobbed, rushing over to his brother and hugging him as best as he could. For a Pokemon lacking arms, he did a fairly good job.

"He's fine. The little guy doesn't have a scratch on him," Kippy said. Anima shot a questioning look at him. _Sure, he's fine physically...but this might give him some nightmares for a while. _

"Oh, Team Enigma...thank you so much! Azurill?" Marill said, looking at his brother. Azurill nodded.

"I know...Thank you for saving me, Team Enigma!" Anima smiled; it was the warmest smile she'd ever given, and wasn't forced in the slightest.

"You're very welcome, Azurill," She said. "Good luck finding that item of yours,"

"Thanks!" A voice behind them interrupted the warm feelings.

"ZZT! I am officer Magnezone! Thank you for helping us apprehend Drowzee! ZZT!" Anima jumped slightly, as did Kippy.

"Y-you're welcome, officer. But...where _is_ Drowzee?" Kippy asked.

"ZZT! Deputy Magnemite and deputy Magneton are retrieving him as we speak. ZZT!" Anima fought the almost uncontrollable urge to giggle wildly. The "ZZT!" thing he did after every sentence was ridiculously comical.

"ZZT! Officer Magnezone! ZZT! We have the outlaw in custody! ZZT!" Deputy Magneton said as he and Magnemite exited the dungeon with Drowzee in tow.

"ZZT! Good work! Team Enigma, we'll be sure to send the reward to the guild! ZZT! Thank you for your cooperation! And now you," Magnezone said, turning his attention to Drowzee. "You are coming with us! ZZT!"

"Aww..." Drowzee groaned, having no choice but to let himself be hauled off to prison.

"It's pretty late, Anima," Kippy said, turning his gaze to the sky. "We might want to be heading back soon,"

"Agreed," Anima said. "I've had enough excitement for one day,"

* * *

><p>Anima and Kippy entered the guild a little while later, only to be congratulated by Chatot right off the bat.<p>

"Good job, you two! Officer Magnezone told me you apprehended a wanted outlaw! Excellent work! Of course, I'll expect that same great work from you tomorrow!" He said before heading downstairs. Anima and Kippy looked at each other and started laughing.

"Wow...that was sudden," Anima said.

"Yeah," Kippy agreed. They were cut off by a grumbling noise.

"Hey! My stomach growled!" Kippy exclaimed. Another grumble came soon after.

"Same here!" Anima said. Two more grumbles from the both of them sent them into laughter again.

"Wow! We were so intent on rescuing Azurill that we forgot how hungry we were!" Kippy said.

"Yeah, but now...now I'm starving! Let's go eat!"

* * *

><p>That night, Kippy and Anima talked for a little bit before going to sleep.<p>

"Catching Drowzee...that was awesome," Kippy said.

"You were the one who took him down," Anima reminded him. "I just started things,"

"But _you_ were the one who found out about Azurill ahead of time! If you hadn't had that vision, we may have not noticed,"

_Oh, I would've noticed,_ Anima thought about saying. _It's hard to ignore your every instinct telling you that something's not right about a certain situation._

"Yeah, I guess you're right," She said aloud. She wasn't in the mood for explaining things like that innate feeling that something was off.

"Well, let's put in another good day tomorrow. All right?" Kippy asked, already drifting off to sleep. Anima smiled before also going to bed.

"You know it, Kippy. You know it,"

* * *

><p><em>Not as long as the chapter before, I know. Hope you're not too disappointed. I'm working on a THIRD story (which I just published today) so I'm juggling between this one and that. My Kirby story's going to be out of business for a little bit just because my attention span cannot focus on Kirby long enough for me to see just where I want to go with that story (I've dug myself a bit of a hole with that one...)<em>


	8. The First Official Exploration

_Crap. Instead of going to Mt. Bristle, I sent Team Enigma to Mt. Horn. Oh, well...at least they're both mountains... _

* * *

><p>Days passed. Anima and Kippy had become quite good at "multitasking". In other words, they were excellent at taking on multiple jobs in the same dungeon, often accomplishing three or four in a single day. Needless to say, they were earning Explorer Points, Poke, and useful items that seemed to be stacking up faster than they could stash the stuff away. It had been three days since they'd joined, and already they were halfway towards their Silver Rank.<p>

"Ready for another good day?" Kippy asked after morning briefing.

"You know it," Anima replied, in a good mood despite having to wake up early every day. Arceus knew how much she thought about before she actually got to sleep at night.

"Oh, Team Enigma! May I speak with you for a minute?" Chatot asked. Anima and Kippy exchanged glances, shrugged, and went over to see what the Music Note Pokemon wanted.

"Now, seeing as though you've obtained quite a bit more experience..." Chatot said, signaling for their Wonder Map. Anima obligingly set it out in front of them. "Now, we've received intelligence about this waterfall right here," He said, pointing to a waterfall on the map. It was fairly close to the guild. "We think this waterfall hides a secret, and we want you to go check it out,"

"So you're sending us out on a real exploration?" Kippy exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement and joy.

"That's right! Go investigate the waterfall and bring back any intelligence you gather about it!"

"You got it!" Kippy said, still giddy. "Come on, Anima! We gotta go get some supplies at Treasure Town!" Anima knew there was no calming Kippy down as he half-dragged her up the ladder, down the stairs, and into Treasure Town.

"Kippy! Slow down!" She cried. "In order to get supplies, we might need more money to buy them with!"

"Oh, right. Sorry, Anima," Kippy said, embarrassed.

"It's fine," Anima said. "This is our first official exploration. It's only natural that you'd be psyched about it. I'll get some cash and meet you over at Kecleon Market, okay? You can go grab some stuff from storage,"

"All right!" Kippy agreed.

"Your partner is in a good mood today...hee-hee!" Duskull said as Anima walked over to the counter. Anima nodded casually. She was just about the only Pokemon in Treasure Town that didn't think Duskull was creepy like the others did. Of course, she didn't think Croagunk was that odd, either.

"We're going to go investigate a waterfall. Kippy's really excited; it's our first official exploration," She explained, unable to help but also be a bit excited about this.

"How much Poke would you like to withdraw?" Anima looked out over the bridge and saw Kippy talking with the Kecleon Brothers. It looked like he'd found a lot of good items.

Anima listened hard, able to hear their conversation due to the quietness of her surroundings. Yes, he'd found a lot of good items. _Expensive_ items.

"Two thousand, please," She said. It was most of their savings, but Kippy was so hyped up that she'd indulge him. Just this once.

"Here you go. Hee-hee," Duskull said, handing over the money.

"Thanks, Duskull," Anima said, joining Kippy.

"Oh, Anima, there's a White Gummi and a Blue Gummi there! Can we get them? Please?" Kippy asked. He seemed more like a small child than an explorer-in-training. Anima, although curious as to what a "Gummi" was, handed over the cash needed; 1,600 Poke. _All that for a couple snacks?_ She thought skeptically. _These had better be good. _

"Uh-oh. We don't have enough for a Max Elixir now. Or a few more Oran Berries..." Kippy fretted.

"Kippy, relax. I have a stockpile of TM's that I've been meaning to sell..." She said, bringing out five TM's that neither Kippy nor herself could utilize.

"I can offer 1,250 Poke for that. Is that a good deal?" The purple Kecleon asked. Anima got an interesting gleam in her eye that was almost-humored cunning. Kippy looked at her nervously. Most Pokemon would see this as a fair deal and walk away with the cash. Apparently Anima didn't find this as satisfactory as the others did.

"Two hundred fifty Poke each, and you sell them for how much?" She asked, choosing each word with the utmost care.

"Well, TM's like these would probably sell for around six thousand..." The Kecleon said nervously, not used to being challenged.

"Hmm...doesn't seem like such a good deal now, does it, Kippy?" Anima asked slyly, looking over at Kippy.

"W-why are you bringing me into this?" He asked, also looking nervous. Meanwhile, Corphish and Sunflora watched while they went about _their_ preparations.

"Hey, hey! Is Anima trying to haggle with Kecleon?" Corphish asked somewhat-loudly. Duskull, Team Razor Wind, Team Glee, and Spoink all looked over the bridge, where Anima and Kecleon were caught up in a quiet but intense debate on what the fair price of a decent TM should be.

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Sunflora exclaimed.

"She'd better be careful," Zangoose said. "Otherwise she'll be in a heap of trouble."

"Yeah," Sandslash agreed. "Rookies shouldn't try to bargain with the Kecleon,"

"What do you mean, 'rookies'?" Spoink asked. "Their first job was a major success!" Scyther shrugged.

"Luck, pure and simple,"

"I think they're a good exploration team!" Togepi said back. "They're out on their first exploration today!"

"Is that exploration one of the bad side of Kecleon?"

"Ssh! Look!" Politoad hushed, signaling over to the Kecleon Market.

"Maybe you're right, Anima," Kecleon sighed, having lost the battle. "I'll pay you 3,000 Poke for all that,"

"Deal," Anima said, buying a few Max Elixirs and Oran Berries before heading out with Kippy right in tow.

"But don't get used to this, you hear me?" Kecleon called after her.

"Hee-hee! Allow me to hoard that for you, Team Enigma," Duskull said, humored by the unexpected turn of events.

"Thank you, Duskull," Anima said, depositing the new treasure trove of money they had acquired.

Team Razor Wind watched, mouths agape, as the two strolled on as if nothing had ever happened.

"I cannot believe she got away with that," Zangoose breathed.

"You said it. I couldn've sworn she was a goner," Sandslash added.

"Well, you know what they say about her, don't you?" Scyther asked, face-palming when he saw that his teammates had no idea what he was talking about. "They say that she appeared out of nowhere on the beach. She can't remember a thing, but she claims that she used to be a human,"

"A human?" Sandslash echoed in disbelief. "Well, something _is_ a little...off, about her. But a human?"

"The world is full of mysteries, Sandslash," Zangoose said. "That's what exploration teams are for. But I'm starting to think that as far as talent goes, that Team Enigma may have more to them than what meets the eye." He shook his head in disbelief. "Can you hear me? Talkin' up a bunch of rookies...oh, Arceus, they're getting the better of Pokemon all over the place,"

* * *

><p>"Anima, what were you thinking back there? If you hadn't been careful, you could've been arrested!" Kippy asked as he and Anima traveled to the waterfall.<p>

"I don't know, Kippy. I just got the feeling that I knew was I was doing. Like I'd done it before," Anima replied, not wanting to take the time to explain the half-memory dream she'd had last night. She could still see it in her head, but those that she'd been talking to were still barely-identifiable blurs.

**_"I'll pay you 120 Poke for all that," The Kecleon running the market said. Anima, infuriated, narrowed her eyes._**

**_"One hundred twenty Poke? I've brought you three Blowback Orbs, four Max Elixirs, and seventeen TM's in _usable condition,_ and you're offering me a lousy _one hundred twenty Poke_?" She asked, her voice hushed with anger. She and her partner were running dangerously low on food supplies, and they were exploring an area where there was no hope of finding anything edible. Last night they'd had to split an already-small Apple and had gone to sleep with rumbling stomachs. To add to their already-rotten luck, her partner was now fatally sick from an infection acquired from battle wounds. Anima knew that the traditional medicine required to treat such a case had astronomical prices, but if she could just get her hands on some of the items behind the glass case, she could probably whip something up that would work just as well.  
><em>**

**_"Look, kid, I gotta eat, too! And if you ask me, the humans have already taken a severe drop in population because of that blasted Underground. I don't think they're gonna miss one little girl who's bad at preparations," The Kecleon said, dismissing her with a careless hand gesture. Anima sighed, trying to regain her composure. Yelling would get her nowhere but in deeper trouble. And if something happened to her _now_, her partner would have no chance._**

**_"Kecleon, I'm asking you nicely to pay some more," She said cooly. "My partner is in the forest, and if I can't get some medicine working through him fast, he has just as much a chance of surviving as you would have walking through that brick wall over there,"_**

**_"Sobstory, sobstory. That's all I hear," Kecleon muttered. "Your partner can go bite the dust for all I care, too," That was the last straw. Slamming her fist against the counter in a desperate attempt to remain calm, Anima said,_**

**_"Kecleon, I'm _begging_ you to reconsider. I'll take a low amount of Poke, but what I _really_ need is behind that counter of yours," The Kecleon seemed interested. Good, Anima thought, a spark of hope reigniting in her heart. _**

**_"What do you need?" He asked._**

**_"Five Heal Seeds, six Oran Berries, two Pecha Berries...umm...a Rawst Berry, a Sleep Seed, and two Grass Gummis," Then, in an afterthought, "And I'll need a dozen Big Apples,"_**

**_"All that? Do you have any idea how much that'll cost you?" Anima smiled slyly._**

**_"Kecleon, just get me all that and the original price, and you get a _lot_ more Poke in return than what you're giving," That was, as long as she'd done her math right. Kecleon thought it over for what was an agonizingly long time. Then, finally, he got out a paper bag and swept all the requested items, plus the money, into it. Handing it to Anima, who in return offered up her items, he said,_**

**_"You're good, kid. Maybe the humans aren't done just yet,"_**

**_"Thank you, Kecleon. Thank you a hundred times," Anima said sincerely, tears in her eyes._**

**_"Yeah, yeah, just get outta here before I call the Sableye," Anima quickly turned and ran out of the shop, a final "Thank you" hanging in the still air and a triumphant smile on her lips._**

"Wow! Anima, check this out!" Kippy exclaimed. Anima looked over to where Kippy was and gasped. It was an enormous waterfall, and the water rushed down in an almost-angry stampede.

"It's coming down pretty hard..." She said at last.

"Tell me about it," Kippy said, shouting over the roar of the waterfall. "I didn't think it'd be coming down this hard!" He walked over to the waterfall and jumped back, giving out a cry of surprise and pain.

"Ouch! It's really coming down hard!" He said. Anima also stood as close to the waterfall as she could. _He's right,_ she thought in awe. _I can barely stay standing next to this!_ Then, she got a little too close to the waterfall and recoiled in shock as the pounding water smashed into her paw.

"Where do we even start to look?" Kippy asked. His words faded farther and farther away as another dizziness spell swept over Anima with just as much intensity as the waterfall. _Not again..._She thought, groaning through gritted teeth. Her vision went black before the white light slashed across it like a comet.

**_A Pokemon is standing in front of the waterfall. It looks around for a moment before backing up. Then, suddenly, it goes charging full-force towards the waterfall and leaps into it. It tumbles into a cave on the other side of the waterfall, rights itself, and heads deeper into the cave._**

Anima looked up at the waterfall, seeing it in a new light. _Clever,_ she thought, admiring the Pokemon that she had seen. _Very clever, finding out about that cave. _

"Hey, Kippy. I need to tell you something," She said.

"What is it, Anima?"

"I had another vision. There's a cave on the other side of the waterfall,"

"What? But..." Kippy exclaimed, casting a nervous glance at the waterfall in front of them. "But that waterfall is coming down pretty hard! What if there was really a solid cliff wall behind it? We'd be pounded badly!"

"Kippy...I am _certain_ that there is something behind that waterfall," Anima repeated.

"O-okay. I trust you, Anima. Yes! I completely believe you, Anima!" Kippy said, seeming to be trying to give himself a pep talk. Backing up, he waited for Anima to join him. _This is scary, _He thought to himself. _But if I fail to jump in at full speed...I'll be smooshed no matter what I do! If I do it, I have to do it without a second's hesitation. Be brave, Kippy. Be the bravest ever!_

"On the count of three," He said aloud. Anima nodded, not taking her eyes off the waterfall. "One...two...three!" With that, they both rushed at the waterfall at high speed. Kippy and Anima leaped at the waterfall, and Kippy couldn't help but cry out in fear.

"Waaah!" There was a cold splash of water that felt like they'd gone smashing through a thick window...then, the next thing they knew, they were tumbling into a cave.

"Ack..." Kippy groaned, sitting up.

"Ugh..." Anima said, also working her body into a standing position as they looked over their surroundings. Pools of crystal-clear water sat pristinely calm on either side of them.

"You were right, Anima! There _is_ a cave back here! Come on, let's go explore this place!" Kippy said, his eyes glittering as he lead the way deeper into the cave.

A short while later, after navigating through ten floors of a dungeon filled with water and three recruitments, they reached the end of the dungeon.

"Look at all the crystals!" Wooper cried. He was one of the Pokemon Team Enigma had recruited on the way down. He was the only one with them; the Grimer had been sent to the guild automatically due to a full team and Anima had gotten annoyed with Tangela, who had a habit of randomly eating things in their Treasure Bag. Even things that shouldn't be eaten. _How many Reviver Seeds do we have? _Kippy had asked after Anima had scolded Tangela for the fourth time. _Three, _Anima replied. _We used to have seven, but you have Tangela to thank for **that**_ decrease.__ Needless to say, Anima had sent Tangela back as well after hitting the seventh floor.

"Yeah! They're pretty!" Kippy replied, looking over all the different colored crystals. Anima had to admit that they were actually very beautiful, with their faceted surfaces reflecting back light and making them seem even more vivid. Anima discreetly picked up two crystals, one blue, one green. She knew Kippy liked the color blue...he _was_ a Water-type, after all. And the green crystal...it was deep and dark, even in the sun. Why did that particular shade spark such a feeling in her stomach? It was almost one of...longing. _Must have something to do with me...before I lost my memory,_ Anima reasoned, hastily tucking the two crystals in the folds of her bow as Kippy called, "Hey, Anima! Check this out!" Anima and Wooper followed Kippy's gaze and were shocked to see a large crystal that dwarfed the rest. It was a fiery red in color and sat at the very end of the room.

"Wow! It's huge!" Wooper cried, voicing everybody's thoughts on the gem.

"Can you imagine if we took this back to the guild, Anima? It would be so awesome!" Kippy said. Anima nodded; he was right. There would be an uproar of congratulations if they managed to bring back a treasure _that_ big on their first exploration.

"Urgh! Urrrggh!" Kippy groaned, trying to pull the gem out of the ground and not succeeding. Panting, he said, "It's stuck tight. Anima, why don't you give it a go?"

"Sure," Anima said, also trying to pull the gem out. _No good, _She thought. _It's really stuck,_ Backing up to let Kippy give it another try, Anima almost fell over from the sudden dizziness that occupied her mind. _Oh, great,_ She thought. _Now what...?_

_**The same Pokemon that leaped through the waterfall is looking over the gem. Pushing it rather than pulling it, a low rumbling can be heard before a large wave of water sweeps it away.**_

_That was..._Anima thought, focusing on the Pokemon but realizing what the gem was. A switch.

"Hey, wait! I know!" Kippy said. "If you can't pull it...!" He pushed on the gem, and an audible _click_ was heard.

"Kippy, don't!" Anima cried, a split second too late.

"What is it, Anima?" Kippy asked as a low rumbling filled the air. He and Wooper looked around questioningly, but Anima stayed rooted to the spot, looking towards the right.

"It's booby-trapped," She moaned as Kippy and Wooper followed her gaze and jumped in shock. A large wave of water was hurtling towards them...just like Anima had seen happen to the other Pokemon before!

"WAAAH!" Kippy cried as they were all swept up in the water's strong current, unable to do anything but ride the wave to Arceus-knows-where.

The last thing Anima was aware of was the sensation of the sun against her, and then, shortly after the water beneath her gave way, the unmistakable sensation of falling.

* * *

><p>Anima and Kippy came to a while later, having fallen into what felt like a pool of hot water.<p>

"Are you all right? You fell out of the sky! You certainly scared everyone!" A Teddiursa exclaimed. Wooper nodded from dry land.

"Yep, that's right!"

"W-where are we?" Kippy asked, dazed from the fall. A Torkoal cleared his throat from his perch on a rocky shelf overlooking the rest of the water.

"You're at the Hot Springs," He said. Anima could tell from his voice that he was extraordinarily old. "Have you a map?"

"You mean our Wonder Map? Yes, we have one," Kippy said.

"Open it for me," Torkoal requested. "Now, you are right here," He said, pointing to a space considerably far from the guild.

"Whoa! Anima, look at this!" Kippy exclaimed. "Waterfall Cave is over here...which means..."

"That that geyser shot us all the way over here," Anima finished. Torkoal jumped in shock.

"Good heavens! It was the water that brought you all this way? What a long and exhausting that journey must have been! Please, let the waters of the Hot Springs ease your muscles before you make your way back,"

"We'll do that. Thanks, everybody!" Kippy said.

* * *

><p>Back at Wigglytuff's Guild, Team Enigma summed up their Waterfall Cave adventure.<p>

"So, let me get this straight...behind the waterfall, there is a cave. In the deepest part of the cave, there is a large gemstone. When you pushed on the gem, it activated a trap of some sort, and as a result you were flushed off to the distant Hot Springs? Is that it?"

"Yes. It's a shame that we couldn't bring back the gem..." Chatot began frantically beating his wings again.

"Well, no! No! You've made an excellent discovery!"

"Really?" Kippy asked.

"Of course! Nobody before knew that that cave was there!"

"Oh, I get it! We made a discovery!" Kippy exclaimed. He and Chatot continued to talk, while Anima was lost in her own thoughts. _But, in my vision...that Pokemon I saw...That shape...I know that shape..._ Anima focused on the shape of the Pokemon she'd seen, even though the visions were already blurring into oblivion in her memories. _There's no mistaking it! That shape...that was Wigglytuff!_

"Kippy...Chatot. I have to tell you something," Anima said, not wanting to spoil Kippy's excitement but knowing that Chatot was wrong to say that they were the first.

"Huh? What is it, Anima?" Kippy asked.

"I...I think Wigglytuff has already been to Waterfall Cave," This statement was followed by shock from both Kippy and Chatot; the latter had started frantically beating his wings again.

"No, no! Inconceivable! Why, if the Guildmaster had already known about the cave, he wouldn't have asked you to investigate it, right? Right?"

"Well, you know our Guildmaster..." Anima said. Chatot sighed.

"However, if you insist, I'll check with the Guildmaster about this," Turning away, he once again began muttering things that only Anima could hear. "...but why would they want to spoil their own discovery? These apprentices are just another strange lot, aren't they...?"

"What was that?" Anima asked.

"Squawk! Nothing, nothing at all! I'll check with the Guildmaster about Waterfall Cave,"

_A short while later..._

"So, what did he say?" Kippy asked.

"Well, when I asked him if he had ever explored Waterfall Cave before, he mulled it over for a bit. And then he said," At this point, Chatot did a perfect imitation of Wigglytuff's voice. "'Oh, memories, sweet memories...YOOM-TAH!' Then he danced around a bit," Anima sweat-dropped.

"Well, that's Wigglytuff for you..." She said.

"Then he said 'Now that I think really hard about it, maybe I _did_ go there once!' So, to sum it all up, it's just as Anima suspected: Guildmaster has indeed already been to Waterfall Cave,"

"Oh...I wish he hadn't sent us there in the first place..." Kippy said, clearly disappointed.

"Sometimes the Guildmaster can be a bit...erm...eccentric. Even I cannot fathom what goes on in his head. Nonetheless, I expect more good work from you tomorrow!"

"Urk..." Kippy groaned.

That night after dinner, Kippy and Anima talked about that day's adventures.

"It was really disappointing to find out that Wigglytuff has already been there...but...hey! I noticed something about your visions, Anima!" Anima had been dozing off while Kippy was talking about Waterfall Cave. But at the mention of her visions, she sat up straight in her bed.

"What?"

"You always seem to be touching something!" If Anima had already noticed that, she honestly wouldn't find this news very impressing. But this had just dawned on her, as well.

"And there's something else," Kippy said almost ominously. "With Azurill and Drowzee, you saw the future...but this time, with Wigglytuff...you saw the past!"

"You're right!" Anima exclaimed.

"Anima, this ability of yours is amazing! You could use it for all kinds of things, not just exploring!"

"Well, yeah...but it's not like I see something every time I touch something...it'd be cool if I could have visions when I wanted them to happen, but..."

"Team Enigma!" Chatot said from the doorway. "The Guildmaster would like to see you," Anima and Kippy looked at each other, shrugged, and followed Chatot to Wigglytuff's room.

"Guildmaster. I brought them," Chatot said. Once again, Wigglytuff whirled around unexpectedly and, yes, Kippy and Anima were once again taken by surprise.

"Hiya! I just wanted to say that the guild is mounting an expedition!" Wigglytuff said.

"An expedition? What's that?" Anima asked.

"It's when the guild travels to a far-off place to explore. We go a lot farther than our local area, so things are certainly much harder. So that's why we choose participating apprentices with the utmost care," Chatot explained.

"Usually, we would never, ever consider rookies for the expedition. But you two are working so very, very hard!" Wigglytuff added. "So that's why we've decided to add you to the list of candidates!"

"Really? That's awesome!" Kippy exclaimed.

"Now, now!" Chatot said. "Just because you're being considered doesn't mean you've been chosen. We still expect you to work hard!" Chatot said.

"We will! Let's work hard to get a place on the expedition, Anima!" Kippy said. Anima nodded.

"You got it, Kippy!" Once again, the two leaped into the air, holding their badges out high.

"Goooo Team Enigma!" They cheered.

* * *

><p><em>Abrupt ending, I know. But I've been working on this chapter for far too long.<em>

_I almost died laughing when I first read Wigglytuff's response to being asked about Waterfall Cave, especially the whole "dancing around a bit" thing. I LOVE Wigglytuff; he's just that funny!_

_As always, update times are unpredictable, so please be patient! In the meantime, feel free to give me some feedback on what you think so far!  
><em>


	9. UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

_**NOT A NEW CHAPTER I AM SO, SO SORRY**_

...Hey, guys, it's been a while. I'm wondering how many of you are still actually here xD

Anyway, as you could probably tell, it's been a good few years since I've been on this site, and honestly, I kind of forgot about my entire account that I have on here. But I really do want to get back into updating stories; I miss writing this stuff, and between getting busy with other things and gaining other interests, I guess this just wasn't too big of a priority.

What I'm saying is this: what stories do you guys especially want updates on? I want to know just so I can prioritize, and start getting back into the stories that are wanted the most. I plan on updating most if not all of them at some point or another (My Artemis Fowl story and maybe one or two others will probably be deleted, since I've lost interest altogether).


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